Online course: Journey of the Universe: The Unfolding of Life (part of a long term online programme: Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times)

Dates: any time

Duration: 24 hours

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 out of 345 ratings (see top rating courses here)

Participating countries: any country

Apply here: Application form

Organizer: Yale University at Coursera

Cost:

• FREE
• $49 with sharable certificate

Journey of the Universe: The Unfolding of Life

Journey of the Universe weaves together the discoveries of the evolutionary sciences together with humanities such as history, philosophy, art, and religion. The course draws on the Emmy-award winning film, Journey of the Universe, and the book from Yale University Press.

Journey explores cosmic evolution as a creative process based on connection, interdependence, and emergence. It examines a range of dynamic interactions in the unfolding of galaxies, Earth, life, and human communities. It investigates ways in which we understand evolutionary processes and the implications for humans and our ecological future.

The Journey course, thus, is based on a new integration that is emerging from the dialogue of the sciences and humanities. Journey tells the story of evolution as an epic narrative, rather than as a series of facts separated by scientific disciplines. This changes our perception so that we begin to see ourselves as an integral part of this narrative. By situating ourselves within this story we can better appreciate the complexity and beauty of processes such as self-organizing dynamics, natural selection, emergence, symbiosis, and co-evolution. As we discover these intricate processes of evolution, we awaken to the beauty and complexity of our natural environment at this critical juncture in our planetary history.

Mary Evelyn Tucker

Senior Lecturer and Senior Research Scholar

Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Programme

WEEK 1: 1 hour to complete

Welcome to Journey of the Universe: The Unfolding Life

Learn what this course is about, who’s teaching it, and other ways you can explore this topic. Meet and greet your peers as well!

Tucker and Grim, “Cultural Cosmology and Scientific Cosmology”
Course Description
Pre-Course Survey
Meet Your Instructional Team
Recommended Texts
Web Resources
Introduction – Beginning of the Universe

In module two, we explore how humans are part of the larger universe story.

Tucker, “Living Within a Universe Story”
Tucker, “Ethics in an Age of Extinction”
Meet Brian Swimme
Journey of the Universe (full film)
The new cosmology — sketched out via Einstein — as a fundamental Copernican-type turning point
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 1: Beginning of the Universe
“The New Story,” by Thomas Berry
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: Beginning of the Universe
Familiarize yourself with the Journey website3
“Space Ripples Reveal Big Bang’s Smoking Gun”, by Dennis Overbye
Living Within a Universe Story
Introduction – Beginning of the Universe

WEEK 2: 4 hours to complete

The Formation of Galaxies and Stars

This module explores many of the world’s greatest stories and how they begin with a journey, a quest to answer life’s most intimate questions like where do we come from and why are we here?

Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 1: Introduction
Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 2: Beginning of the Universe
Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 3a: Galaxies Forming
Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 3b: The Emanating Brilliance of Stars.
The Omnicentric Nature of Cosmic Expansion
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 2: Galaxies Forming
American Museum of Natural History, NYC – Cosmology
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: The Formation of Galaxies
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 3: The Emanating Brilliance of Stars
Short film, “Powers of Ten,” by Eames Office
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: The Emanating Brialliance of Stars
Galaxies Forming
The Emanating Brilliance of Stars
The Formation of Galaxies and Stars

WEEK 3: 3 hours to complete

Our Solar System and Life’s Emergence

Here we look at several major milestones in scientific discovery that expanded our knowledge of the solar system

Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 4: Birth of the Solar System
Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 5: Life’s Emergence
Plate Tectonics as Balanced Turbulence in Mars and Jupiter
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 4: Birth of the Solar System
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: Our Solar System
Scales of the Universe, American Museum of Natural History, NYC
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 5: Life’s Emergence
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: Life’s Emergence
Our Solar System
Life’s Emergence
Our Solar System and Life’s Emergence

WEEK 4: 4 hours to complete

Living and Dying and the Passion of Animals

Now we invite you to think about the coevolution of the human with other species within this broad time scale. Completing this module may change the way that you understand what it means to be human!Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 6:

Learning, Living, and Dying
Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 7: The Passion of Animals
Demonstrating the Co-evolution Taking Place in Natural Selection
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 6: Living and Dying
Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois – Evolving Planet
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: Living and Dying
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 7: The Passion of Animals
Hall of Biodiversity, American Museum of Natural History, NYC
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: the Passion of Animals
Learning, Living, and Dyin
The Passion of Animals
Living and Dying and the Passion of Animals

WEEK 5: 4 hours to complete

From the Origin of the Human to Becoming a Planetary Presence

In this module, we hope you come to understand the human species to be “planetary” in a way that other species are not.

Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 8: The Origin of the Human
Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 9: Becoming a Planetary Presence
The Neotenic Nature of Flowers and Humans
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 8: The Origin of the Human
Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins
“Being Human,” by Rick Potts, Smithsonian Institution
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: The Origin of the Human
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 9: Becoming a Planetary Presence
The Age of Humans: Evolutionary Perspectives on the Anthropocene
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: Becoming a Planetary Presence
The Origin of the Human
Becoming a Planetary Presence
From the Origin of the Human to Becoming a Planetary Presence

WEEK 6: 3 hours to complete

Rethinking Matter and Time within the Emerging Earth Community

What does it mean to you to live in cosmological time? How is thinking like this different than your previous understanding of time? What implications does it have for your understanding of yourself and your sense of your relation to the world around you? This module explores answers to these questions.

Journey of the Universe Film: Scene 10: Emerging Earth Community
Tucker and Grim with Brian Ackerman at Jacob Burns Center (1 of 3)
Tucker and Grim with Brian Ackerman at Jacob Burns Center (2 of 3)
Tucker and Grim with Brian Ackerman at Jacob Burns Center (3 of 3)
Time As Now Measured in Terms of Cosmological Creativity
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 10: Rethinking Matter and Time
Journey of the Universe Book: Chapter 11: Emerging Earth Community
Scientific Summary, by Matthew Riley and Brian Thomas Swimme: Rethinking Matter and Time within the Emerging Earth Community
California Academy of Sciences
Post-Course Survey
Rethinking Matter and Time within the Emerging Earth Community

Long term online programme Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times

This online course is one of the parts of long term online programme “Journey of the Universe: A Story for Our Times“, provided by Yale University: