Professors Without Borders Think Tank

Do you have an interest in understanding and solving economic challenges? Check out our list of free, online courses in the areas of economics and entrepreneurship.* These short courses will present a comprehensive overview of key topics in the field and provide opportunities for skill development through distance learning.

Becoming a Changemaker: Introduction to Social Innovation

Coursea

This course examines the basics of social innovation and social entrepreneurship. You will learn how to explore the complex problems that surround us and how to start thinking about solutions.

  • 4 weeks; 5/6 hours per week
  • Introductory Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain: An Introduction to Digital Currencies

Coursea

This course provides a framework for understanding both Cryptocurrency and Blockchain. You will learn how to define a currency, analyze the foundations of digital signatures and blockchain technology in cryptocurrency, and accurately assess the risks of cryptocurrency in a modern investment portfolio.

  • 4 weeks; 1 hour per week
  • Introductory Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Design Thinking for Innovation

Coursea

This course examines the basics of design thinking. You will work with a model containing four key questions and several tools to help you understand design thinking as a problem solving approach.

  • 4 weeks; 1-2 hours per week
  • Introductory Level
  • Subtitles in Arabic, English, Korean, Spanish & Vietnamese
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Game Theory I

Coursea

The course examines the basics of game theory: representing games and strategies, the extensive form (which computer scientists call game trees), Bayesian games (modeling things like auctions), repeated and stochastic games, and more.

  • 4 weeks; 3 hours per week
  • Introductory Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Game Theory II: Advanced Applications

Coursea

This course explores how to design interactions between agents in order to achieve good social outcomes. You will explore social choice theory (i.e., collective decision making and voting systems), mechanism design, and auctions.

  • 4 weeks; 2/3 hours per week
  • Advanced Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

How to Validate your Startup Idea

Coursea

This course examines the basic principles of entrepreneurship to guide you through the process of actively validating your idea in the market You will learn how to interact with potential customers, suppliers, partners and investors, pitch your idea, and receive and incorporate feedback into your business plan.

  • 4 weeks; 5/6 hours per week
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Local Economic Development

Coursea

This course explores the where, who and how of economic development. You will examine: Why does economic development take place in some areas of the world and not in others?, How can regions make more of the opportunities of globalization and new technologies?, and Why did the promises of decentralization to deliver better public services and more responsive governments?

  • 8 weeks; 3/4 hours per week
  • Introductory Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Mathematics for Economists

Coursea

This course explores skills for implementation of the mathematical knowledge and expertise to the problems of economics. Prerequisites include knowledge of: the single variable calculus, the foundations of linear algebra including operations on matrices, and the general theory of systems of simultaneous equations.

  • 4 weeks; 5/6 hours per week
  • Intermediate Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Microeconomics Principles

Coursea

This course explores the basic principles of microeconomics. By the end of this course, you will learn how you the way economists think and how to use this analytical system to answer complex questions.

  • 4 weeks; 6/7 hours per week
  • Introductory Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Monetary Policy in the Asia Pacific

Coursea

This course will provide a foundation for understanding liquidity policy implementation in the Asia-Pacific using standard economic models. You will build analytical skills that might be applied to policy and market analysis in a broad range of economies and even in the Asia-Pacific region as policy-making evolves in the future.

  • 4 weeks; 2 hours per week
  • Intermediate Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Renewable Energy and Green Building Entrepreneurship

Coursea

This course will explore how to launch a new business in the energy, finance, real estate, design, engineering, or environmental sectors, while also helping you create positive environmental and human health impacts around the world. You will learn how to integrate tools, trends, and tips from the field of entrepreneurship to generate wealth in the renewable energy and green building sectors.

  • 3 weeks; 5/6 hours per week
  • Introductory Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Social and Economic Networks: Models and Analysis

Coursea

The course examines the basics of social and economic networks and the concepts used to describe and measure networks. You will learn how networks form and how they impact behavior, including contagion, diffusion, learning, and peer influences.

  • 4 weeks; 6/7 hours per week
  • Advanced Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

Social Impact Strategy: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators

Coursea

This course examines social impact strategy, social entrepreneurship and the tools needed to become a changemaker. You will learn how to innovate and design new ideas and new organizational forms to implement those ideas.

  • 4 weeks; 1-2 hours
  • Introductory Level
  • Free Enrollment
  • Financial Aid Available

*This is not an exhaustive list and our team will regularly update the entries with the most up-to-date information.