15 Online Humanities Courses for High School Students

Key Takeaways

• 15 online humanities courses cover a wide range of subjects, from philosophy and literature to linguistics, religion, and legal studies, giving students flexibility to explore interests they may not encounter in a typical high school curriculum.
• Most courses on this list are self-contained learning experiences rather than mentored research programs. Unlike research-based opportunities, these courses focus purely on structured lessons, assignments, and assessments without long-term mentorship or independent projects.
• College credit is a common feature across several programs. Cornell’s School of Continuing Education, Rice University, Oregon State’s Ecampus, and Syracuse’s Accelerated Semester Online all let students earn transferable credit while still in high school.
• Several courses connect humanities disciplines to contemporary issues and technology. Brown’s Equity and Justice course links classical philosophy to topics like artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, and Cornell’s Music and Digital Gameplay course examines music through the lens of video game culture.
• These online humanities courses are a strong way to explore new subjects and build foundational academic skills, but they are not the only path for a student interested in independent research. Those who want to pursue a mentored research project instead might consider Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs, a virtual research program with 600+ specializations across subjects like political theory, data science, and biology.

If you’re interested in people, cultures, languages, ideas, and historical events that have shaped the world, online humanities courses are a great way to explore your interests. Whether you are fascinated by ancient civilizations, great works of literature, philosophy, religious studies, classics, or the evolution of languages, these courses let you dive into a wide range of subjects. You can also discover related fields such as archaeology, anthropology, cultural studies, and art history. Online humanities courses are designed to help you build knowledge through structured lessons, assignments, and assessments. Some courses are self-paced, others are instructor-led, and many offer a certificate upon completion. Unlike full academic programs, these courses focus solely on learning and typically do not include mentorship or long-term projects. Since they’re delivered online, you can learn from anywhere, explore new interests, and study at a pace that fits your schedule.

What do Online Humanities courses for high schoolers include?

Online humanities courses give you the opportunity to explore how people,  societies, and ideas have evolved over time. Depending on your chosen course, you’ll read and analyze historical documents, literary works, speeches, artworks, or academic articles, while examining topics such as world history, philosophy, languages, religion, and the arts. Along the way, you’ll develop valuable academic skills, including critical reading, research, source evaluation, academic writing, and the ability to build evidence-based arguments. Typical coursework includes assigned readings, quizzes, essays, discussion posts, and document analyses that can help you understand and apply key concepts.

Here are 15 online humanities courses for high school students. If you’re looking for online humanities research programs, you can find them here. You can also check out the humanities summer research opportunities for high school students here.

15 Online Humanities Courses for High School Students

1. 10310 Leadership and Social Change — Leadership Institute at Brown University

Brown University’s Leadership Institute gives high school students the opportunity to explore social issues and develop practical leadership skills. Depending on your interests, you can take courses in humanities and related fields such as social justice, law, women and leadership, intercultural communication, social entrepreneurship, and art and social change. In the Leadership and Social Change course, you’ll examine different approaches to creating social change, including community organizing, electoral politics, direct service, philanthropy, and legal advocacy. You’ll also study historical and contemporary justice movements to understand how individuals and communities have driven meaningful change. The online course includes readings, research, discussions, guest speakers, presentations, case studies, films, group projects, and writing assignments to create an engaging learning experience. Along the way, you’ll develop key skills such as public speaking, teamwork, active listening, conflict resolution, and problem-solving. You’ll also reflect on your leadership style and create a final action plan outlining how you can apply what you have learned. The course will prepare you for college-level study fields such as political science, gender studies, sociology, and ethnic studies.

2. HUMA S-185 Gender Justice — Harvard University’s Secondary School Program (SSP)

Harvard Summer School’s Secondary School Program gives high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses for credit. You can choose a four-week residential option with one course or a seven-week session available in residential, online, or commuting formats, allowing you to enroll in one or two courses. If you’re interested in the humanities, the Gender Justice course explores the humanities and related fields, such as literature, gender studies, social justice, film, memoir, and creative nonfiction. You’ll examine stories about gender and justice from different perspectives, through works by Schuyler Bailar, Miriam Toews, Audre Lorde, Margaret Atwood, Ito Shiori, Cho Nam-joo, Gloria Anzaldúa, Cherríe Moraga, and Professor Thornber. In addition to reading and discussing these texts, you’ll also have the opportunity to write and reflect on your own stories related to gender and justice.

3. PHL 160 Religions of the World — Ecampus at Oregon State University

Oregon State University’s Ecampus allows high school students to take online college courses for credit as nondegree-seeking students, with the option to pursue a degree later. As an Ecampus student, you’ll study with Oregon State students and adult learners from different academic and cultural backgrounds. If you’re interested in religion, history, and culture, The Religions of the World course introduces you to the academic study of religion and religious traditions around the world. You’ll read works by scholars who have developed theories about the nature of religion, as well as researchers who have conducted fieldwork and other hands-on studies of religious practices and beliefs. Throughout the course, you’ll explore several major world religions and understand how historians, anthropologists, and other scholars analyze and interpret religious phenomena from different academic perspectives.

4. 10050 Equity and Justice: The Meaning of Equality in a Time of Systemic Oppression — Summer@Brown Online Pre-College Programs

Summer@Brown Online Program offers more than 35 courses in the humanities and related fields, such as philosophy, history, writing, literature, legal studies, psychology, and visual arts. In addition to your coursework, you’ll have access to workshops and extracurricular activities that enrich your learning experience. In the Equity and Justice: The Meaning of Equality in a Time of Systemic Oppression course, you’ll examine how ideas about equality have evolved over time, by studying influential thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Rawls, Plato, Immanuel Kant, and Friedrich Nietzsche. You’ll also examine topics such as civil disobedience, meritocracy, artificial intelligence, economic and political inequality, and genetic engineering, and connect these ideas to current events. Through readings, written responses, discussion boards, and a final presentation, you’ll strengthen your critical reasoning, written communication, argumentation, and public speaking skills, while learning to analyze complex social and ethical questions from multiple perspectives.

5. SHUM 2701 Music and Digital Gameplay — Cornell SCE Precollege Studies Summer Online Program

Cornell University’s School of Continuing Education offers online summer pre-college courses that give high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to experience college-level academics before graduating from high school. Depending on your course load, you can earn 3–12 transferable college credits and receive an official Cornell transcript after completing the program. If you’re interested in the intersection of music, media, and technology, the Music and Digital Gameplay course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to music, media studies, game studies, and digital culture. You’ll examine how music shapes the gaming experience and how playing digital games can itself be understood as a musical activity. Throughout the course, you’ll analyze games from a variety of genres, including first-person shooters and rhythm action games, as well as learn critical frameworks for analyzing the relationship between music and gameplay. You’ll also learn about recent scholarship on digital games from multiple academic perspectives.

6. LING 200 901 Intro to the Study of Language — Rice University’s Summer Credit Courses

Rice University gives high school students the opportunity to earn college credit by enrolling in summer courses across various subjects. You’ll get to interact with faculty and experience what it’s like to study at a leading research university. If you’re interested in languages and communication, the Intro to the Study of Language course will help you explore linguistics and the scientific study of language structure and use. You’ll explore core areas of the field, including linguistics, phonetics, syntax, semantics, discourse, phonology, morphology, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. You’ll also examine how linguistics intersects with related fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, and cognitive science, helping you understand how language relates to human behavior, culture, and communication.

7. HUMA S-110 Masterpieces of World Literature — Harvard University’s Secondary School Program (SSP)

Harvard Summer School’s Secondary School Program gives high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses for credit. You can take a four-week residential option with one course or a seven-week session that may be residential, online, or commuting, with the option to take one or two courses. If you are passionate about literature and global cultures, the  Masterpieces of World Literature course offers a journey through some of the world’s most influential literary works, from  The Epic of Gilgamesh to modern classics. Along the way, you’ll discover how literature reflects the histories, values, and traditions of diverse societies. The course features conversations between instructors Martin Puchner and David Damrosch, instead of relying on traditional lectures. You’ll also learn through travel footage from locations such as Istanbul, Jaipur, Troy, and Weimar, as well as interviews with author Orhan Pamuk and other experts.

8. 10050 Comparative Legal Systems & International Criminal Justice: A Global Perspective — Summer@Brown Online Pre-College Programs

Summer@Brown Online Program offers more than 35 courses in the humanities and related fields, such as philosophy, history, writing, literature, legal studies, psychology, and visual arts. The course also features workshops and extracurricular activities that complement your academic experience. If you’re interested in law, politics, and global affairs, the Comparative Legal Systems & International Criminal Justice: A Global Perspective course introduces you to major legal traditions and criminal justice systems in the United States, Germany, China, England, France, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. You’ll compare how different countries address issues such as crime, justice, traffic offenses, gambling, alcohol regulations, and adultery, helping you understand legal systems around the world. During the three-week course, you’ll engage with journal articles, documentary clips, textbook readings, prerecorded lectures, and online discussions. You’ll also work on a final project where you’ll design an ideal justice system using concepts learned throughout the course.

9. Writing With Pictures: A Multimodal Introduction to Writing for College — Pre-College @ UMass Amherst

Pre-College @UMass Amherst offers Writing With Pictures: A Multimodal Introduction to Writing for College, a two-week online course that introduces high school students to college-level writing through visual communication and digital media. You’ll learn college-level writing strategies and explore working with images, sound, design, layout, and digital tools such as Canva, through live and self-paced instruction, daily workshops, activities, and guided practice. You’ll also develop key academic skills such as rhetorical analysis, audience awareness, note-taking, brainstorming, outlining, critical reading, reflective writing, visual design, and argument development. For your final project, you’ll create a multimodal composition using  Canva, such as an infographic, a social awareness poster, or an autoethnography, that integrates text and visuals to create a message. You’ll also write a 300–500-word reflection discussing your design choices and writing decisions.

10. CREA0207K Creative Writing Workshop: Multi-Genre — Columbia University’s Pre-College Online Summer Program

Columbia University’s Pre-College Online Summer Program offers more than 40 courses for high school students, with flexible one-week, two-week, or combined enrollment options. The Creative Writing Workshop: Multi-Genre course focuses on creative writing, literature, and poetry. In this workshop, you’ll read and write free verse poetry, fiction, short prose, drama, and creative nonfiction and build a portfolio of revised work. The course introduces important elements of the writing process, such as idea generation, drafting, revision, and editing. You’ll complete creative exercises, discuss literary techniques, analyze excerpts from notable works of literature, and participate in peer critiques, thus sharpening your critical reading and analysis skills. You’ll also get to work with classmates and an experienced instructor to improve your creative writing, critical reading, and literary analysis skills.

11. PHY 107 Theories of Knowledge and Reality — Syracuse University ’s  Accelerated Semester Online

Syracuse University’s Accelerated Semester Online Program allows high school students to take online, credit-bearing courses that run for eight weeks during the academic year. Each course includes a live 90-minute session every week along with 8–10 hours of independent work, including videos, readings, and assignments. Theories of Knowledge and Reality is a 3-credit philosophy course that explores key topics in the humanities related to knowledge, reality, consciousness, and human understanding. You’ll engage with major philosophical questions concerning the existence of God, free will, the mind-body problem, and the limits of knowledge. You’ll use historical and contemporary readings to study epistemology and metaphysics. You’ll also get to develop critical thinking, reasoning, and argumentation skills through a close examination of philosophical texts.

12. HUMA S-103 Sea Monsters Throughout the Ages: Fables, Films, and Facts — Harvard University’s Secondary School Program (SSP)

Harvard Summer School’s Secondary School Program gives high school students the opportunity to enroll in college-level courses for credit while experiencing college life. You can choose from a four-week residential option where you can take one course on campus, or a seven-week session that may be residential, online, or commuting, with the option to take one or two courses. If you are interested in sea monsters and other fables, The Sea Monsters Throughout the Ages: Fables, Films, and Facts course offers an interdisciplinary experience that lets you explore how sea monsters have been portrayed across literature, mythology, cultural studies, history, and science. You’ll get to study creatures depicted on sixteenth-century maps, investigate real marine animals that inspired monster legends, and read classic and contemporary stories about sea creatures. By comparing real and imagined monsters, you’ll gain insights into how people understand the natural world, fear, imagination, and human culture.

13. LIT-40099 Glittering Wit: Three Works by Oscar Wilde — UCSD Extended Studies

UCSD Extended Studies offers Glittering Wit: Three Works by Oscar Wilde, a course that explores three of the author’s most well-known literary works. You’ll examine Wilde’s place in late nineteenth-century literature and learn how his wit, social commentary, and public persona made him both famous and controversial. The course focuses on the humanities, including literature, cultural studies, and literary analysis. You’ll study The Importance of Being Earnest and its themes, such as mistaken identities, superficial love, and Victorian social conventions. In the Picture of Dorian Gray, you’ll analyze ideas of beauty, morality, extravagance, and the relationship between art and culture. You’ll also delve into An Ideal Husband, where you’ll examine political corruption, public life, private life, reputation, and the role of love and integrity. Along the way, you’ll strengthen your literary analysis skills while gaining a deeper appreciation of literature, culture, and the humanities.

14. PHL 121 Reasoning and Writing — Ecampus at Oregon State University

Oregon State University’s Ecampus gives high school students an opportunity to take online college courses for credit as nondegree-seeking students, with the option to pursue a degree later. You’ll study with Oregon State students and learners from different backgrounds, giving you an authentic college experience. If you want to become a strong writer and thinker, the Reasoning and Writing course can help you build skills such as critical thinking, argument analysis, and academic writing. You’ll use writing to develop clearer and more effective reasoning and learn how to identify and evaluate arguments, support claims with evidence, analyze assumptions, and recognize flawed or misleading reasoning. The course also explores common reasoning patterns used in everyday situations and helps you build well-organized, thoughtful, and complex arguments in your writing.

15. PHIL 1512 Philosophy and Film — Cornell SCE Precollege Studies Summer Online Program

Cornell University’s School of Continuing Education offers online summer pre-college courses that give high school juniors and seniors an early start in college-level coursework. Depending on your course load, you can earn 3–12 transferable college credits and receive an official Cornell transcript after completing the program. The Philosophy and Film course combines humanities fields such as philosophy, film studies, and media analysis to explore how films shape and reflect ideas about the world. You’ll examine questions about fiction, truth, meaning, interpretation, and human understanding, while considering what movies communicate and how audiences respond to them. You’ll also explore the relationship between a filmmaker’s intentions and a viewer’s interpretation and analyze films as both artistic works and subjects of philosophical inquiry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do any of these courses include mentorship or a long-term research project?
No. Most online humanities courses on this list are structured around lessons, assignments, and assessments rather than mentorship or long-term research, which distinguishes them from formal research programs.

Which of these courses are the most affordable?
UCSD Extended Studies’ Glittering Wit course is the least expensive at $365, and Oregon State’s Ecampus courses cost $409 per credit, making both more accessible than programs like Harvard’s Secondary School Program, which can exceed $15,000 depending on format.

Can I earn college credit through any of these courses?
Yes. Cornell’s School of Continuing Education, Rice University’s Summer Credit Courses, Oregon State’s Ecampus, and Syracuse University’s Accelerated Semester Online all offer transferable college credit alongside their coursework.

Are any of these courses focused on niche or unconventional topics?
Yes. Harvard’s Secondary School Program offers a course called Sea Monsters Throughout the Ages: Fables, Films, and Facts, which examines the portrayal of sea monsters across literature, mythology, and science, alongside more traditional offerings in the same program.

What if I want a mentored research experience rather than a structured course?
These humanities courses are built around structured coursework rather than independent research, but students who want to develop and defend an original research project might consider Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs, a selective virtual research program that pairs students with a mentor to develop an original research paper across subjects like political theory, data science, and biology.

Image source: Oregon State University