Northwestern to Offer Inaugural Semester Online Course

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University will provide one of 11 inaugural courses that will be offered in fall 2013 by Semester Online, a consortium of top-tier colleges and universities engaged in a one-of-a-kind online learning experience for undergraduates. 

Applications must be submitted through Semester Online by Aug. 5. All classes begin the week of Aug. 26 and continue through the week of Dec. 9.

In a partnership between 2U and seven leading universities, Semester Online will offer rigorous, small, online, for-credit courses in real time to college students from anywhere in the world. 

Among the inaugural courses that will be offered in the fall, Northwestern’s Integrated Marketing Communications will be taught by Candy Lee, a professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. The course will explore key concepts and methods used to develop and execute marketing communications in both traditional mass media as well as digital and social media platforms.

Previously a vice president of marketing at The Washington Post, Lee was recognized in 2012 as Teacher of the Year by Northwestern graduate students.

Besides Northwestern, members of the Semester Online consortium include Boston College, Brandeis University, Emory University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame and Washington University in St. Louis.

“Students from all over the country, and even from abroad, will be able to attend these online classes in real time -- classes of about 15 to 20 students taught by professors at some of the nation’s leading universities," said Daniel Linzer, Northwestern University provost.

Through a state-of-the-art virtual classroom, students will participate in discussions and exercises, attend lectures and collaborate with peers while guided by renowned professors, engaging in as close to the on-campus class experience that is currently possible online. Courses will be of the same quality as on-campus counterparts, and students will receive an official transcript from the institution offering the class.

“These courses will expand curricular options for students and will enable consortium schools to work collaboratively to develop the most innovative and successful ways to utilize new learning technologies,” Linzer said.  

Students will have unprecedented opportunities to take advantage of course offerings while they work, travel, participate in off-campus research programs or manage personal commitments that in the past would have meant putting their studies on hold.

Classmates and professors will connect in live, face-to-face weekly classes with sections capped at approximately 20 students. Students will have access to richly produced and self-paced course materials and a social network that allows them to collaborate and engage with each other online in and outside of the virtual classroom.

Fall 2013 Semester Online course offerings

Boston College

• How to Rule the World
• Vietnam: America's War at Home and Abroad

Emory University

• Drugs and Behavior
• Baseball and American Culture
• History of Religions in America 

Northwestern University

• Integrated Marketing Communications

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Financial Accounting and Reporting
• Leading and Managing: An Introduction to Organizational Behavior 

University of Notre Dame

• Shakespeare and Film
• The Rise of Christianity

Washington University in St. Louis

• Environmental and Energy Policies 

Information about Semester Online courses and the application process is now available at Semester Online's website. You can follow Semester Online on social media, on twitter and facebook.