After a drawn-out contract negotiation with online learning company 2U, the University announced last month that it will offer two online undergraduate courses through the Semester Online program in the Spring 2014 semester.

The courses will be "Psychological and Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Health," taught by Prof. Ellen J. Wright (PSY), and "The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament: Then and Now," taught by Prof. Marc Brettler (NEJS), according to a June 11 BrandeisNOW press release.

This development means that Brandeis students will be able to take any of the several courses offered by various schools through the Semester Online program for full credits starting in the spring. According to the press release, the psychology course "surveys topics in psychology, sociology and anthropology and analyzes the relevance of these three disciplines for the mental and physical health of individuals and societies," while the Near Eastern and Judaic StudiesS course "explores the meaning of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in its original ancient Near Eastern context, and how this compares to the uses made of the Bible now."

"We are excited to launch these courses in the spring and receive feedback from our professors about the experience of teaching through Semester Online," said Provost Steve Goldstein '78 according to the press release. "In addition, we will be following up with students who decide to take courses from consortium partners to learn from their experience."

Goldstein continued to say that these courses are "just one way in which Brandeis is exploring and assessing best practices in the rapidly evolving area of online education."
In an email to the Justice, Wright expressed reservations but also excitement about being one of the pioneers of a new kind of teaching.

"I think that online/distance learning is the wave of the future," she wrote. "Distance learning is a natural outgrowth of our increasing reliance on technology. I have concerns about how this decreases real psychological contact between human beings, and how distant we are growing as a society. This was one of my main objections to Brandeis utilizing online learning."

However, she continued to say that the program has developed differently than she anticipated. "

"The more I have learned about this process and the more contact I have had with the online company with whom we are partnering, the more I realize how much this process is very creative. Creating this class is going to stretch me, and collaborating with members of the sociology and anthropology departments will be very enriching."

Though not available to Brandeis students until the spring, Semester Online is kicking off this fall, with Boston College, Emory University, Northwestern University, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame and Washington University in St. Louis all offering classes. None of the courses, which are in subjects such as history, business and political science, are in the so-called "hard sciences."

Goldstein, Brettler and Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren did not respond to multiple requests for comment.