Leiden University Courses

Population Health: Responsible Data Analysis

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeIn most areas of health, data is being used to make important decisions.As a health population manager, you will have the opportunity to use data to answer interesting questions. In this course, we will discuss data analysis from a responsible perspective, which will help you to extract useful information from data and enlarge your knowledge about specific aspects of interest of the population. First, you will learn how to obtain, safely gather, clean and explore data. Then, we will discuss that because data are usually obtained from a sample of a limited number of individuals, statistical methods are needed to make claims about the whole population of interest. You will discover how statistical inference, hypothesis testing and regression techniques will help you to make the connection between samples and populations.A final important aspect is interpreting and reporting. How can we transform information into knowledge? How can we separate trustworthy information from noise? In the last part of the course, we will cover the critical assessment of the results, and we will discuss challenges and dangers of data analysis in the era of big data and massive amounts of information.  In this course, we will emphasize the concepts and we will also teach you how to effectively perform your analysis using R. You do not need to install R on your computer to follow the course, you will be able to access R and all the example data sets within the Coursera environment.This course will become part of the to-be-developedLeiden University master program Population Health Management. If you wish to find out more about this program see the last reading of this Course!

Be Persuasive: Write a Convincing Position Paper or Policy Advice (Project-Centered Course)

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeThis course is available for a limited time only. Enrollments will close on the 27th of June 2019. In this project-centered course, you will learn everything you need to research and present an effective and persuasive position paper or policy advice. We recommend you sign up for a certificate as this course is on premium grading and you will only enjoy the full benefit of the project if you can join in with the assignments. In addition this course contains the exciting opportunity to research and analyze historical decisionmaking, international relations, business cases and battlesin an effort to truly understand constructing a convincing argument.Most important decisions in life, and many unimportant ones, are taken after some degree of reflection. If those decisions affect other people, we may take some advice and we might even follow it. The larger the issue and the greater number of people involved, the more likely that advice process will be institutionalised. Most of us tend to think of policy advice in the context of things as counsel to politicians in matters of national security or policy-making by governments. Of course, we also know that it takes place on a regular basis within businesses and other organisations. But it also happens in local politics and in local campaigns and in everyday life. Every time you try to influence someone’s decision, you are offering policy advice. Even if you are not planning to be an active advisor, the discipline of collecting and arranging the necessary materials is useful in all kinds of research and writing exercises. Writing a policy advice is what we call a ‘transferrable skill’.The course requires an academic approach, but no previous experience. The projects can be completed by both novices and advanced learners. One thing is certain. Both groups will learn a lot from the experience. What is a policy advice?In its simplest form, a policy advice is a short paper that argues your position on a particular issue and the course of action you propose. It also tries to convince the audience to adopt your position and to take action on your advice. What advice can I give?You may well have a topic already, based on your work or your social situation. This could be a piece of equipment your firm might want to buy or a new market it might wish to enter. It could be a campaign for a local play area or against pollution in local ground-water. In this case it is a question of arranging and presenting your position, and discussing it with others in a similar position. On the other hand, you might be open for suggestions. In this case, we have prepared some topics covering business case studies, issues of current affairs, and historical examples. For example, you could look into the archives advise Harry Truman to adopt a different policy towards the Soviet Union at the start of the Cold War. Alternatively you could suggest advise the Incas in 1532 not to be so trusting in their dealings with the Spanish. After all, you will know the outcome. So the course should appeal to everyone interested in practical policy-making as well as amateur historians, strategy gamers. Everyone can have fun applying these techniques to their favourite topics.What will I learn?The project-based course is designed so that you learn by doing rather than by listening. The assignments that you complete, the feedback that you receive and the assignments of others that you read and upon which you comment are all intrinsic parts of the course. The lectures are designed to act as signposts along the way and the readings allow you to explore some of the issues in greater depth. During the whole course experience you will learn to:•Frame a starting position for your own research•Use search engines to locate materials required for your advice•Explore ‘academic’ data-bases•Annotate your sources correctly•Target your research for statistical data•Choose a visualisation for your statistical data •Construct an argument in a logical manner•Build up the logic in each paragraph •Conduct a SWOT analysis•Conduct a Risk Analysis•Present the materials in a position paper•Convert the position paper to a policy advice•Recognise the policy-making hierarchy and shaping the advice accordingly •Write a powerful and effective PowerPoint presentation•Place your project in the ‘real world’ context of the policy-cycle•And ... Discover a great, great deal about your chosen topic.How much time will the course take?The lecture materials in each module will themselves take no more than 30 minutes to view and review. Each module is accompanied by selected reading materials, but these are not compulsory. There is also a Skills Lab with extra literature and videos to assist you to improve your writing, computer and presentation skills. Combining these parts of the course, and assuming that you make some use of all the facilities offered, the ‘on-platform’ time should take no more than an one hour for each module. The project-time depends on the degree of advancement in the project choice. If you come with a ready prepared idea and knowledge of the area, then the project-time should in total be approximately four to five hours. If you decide to use the suggestions in our collections, then you should add another three to four hours to familiarise yourself with the subject and the necessary materials. If you should decide to start a completely new project from scratch, the you would need to add another three hours or so to orient yourself in the problem and then locating the required materials.About Project-Centered Courses: Project-centered courses are designed to help you complete a personally meaningful real-world project, with your instructor and a community of learners with similar goals providing guidance and suggestions along the way. By actively applying new concepts as you learn, you’ll master the course content more efficiently; you’ll also get a head start on using the skills you gain to make positive changes in your life and career. When you complete the course, you’ll have a finished project that you’ll be proud to use and share

Population Health: Governance

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeHow can we organise care in such a way that we optimize experience, quality and costs? What type of governance is needed? And how should healthcare organisations collaborate?These are central questions in this course. In answering them, we depart from a recognition of the impact of three crucial global shifts in health care governance: 1) the change in focus from cure to population health, 2) the increased attention to social determinants of health,and 3) the stronger involvement of non-governmental healthcare organisations in service delivery networks. The course is unique in combining the Population Health perspective with theories of healthcare system governance. It takes a ‘multi-level’ perspective: the participant will look at healthcare governance from different angles inthe healthcare system as a whole: from the global and national level, to networks of organisations, to individual care organisations, and finally to the healthcare professional. All these actors should function well to optimize accessible, affordable and high quality of care. To attain these goals, specific managerial network and leadership skills are required.

The Changing Global Order

4.4

Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeHow are international power relations changing and how can global peace and stability be maintained? This course familiarizes you with some main theories of international relations, shows how the global order is gradually changing and discusses how selected international and regional organizations contribute to the maintenance of global peace and security. You learn what research findings tell us in terms of the capacity of international organizations and actors to help prevent or stop violent conflict, what tools are used to negotiate agreements and how foundations for sustainable peace are best created. We will also focus on the role of the European Union in terms of diplomacy and efforts to prevent conflict, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the contribution of organizations such as the African Union to the prevention of conflict and war. We will study the United Nations Security Council and see in which ways its membership could be adapted to more accurately reflect the power relations of the current global order. Through quizzes and exercises testing your knowledge of these subjects, you will understand crucial concepts and get insights into how the academic study of international relations and international organization contributes to the search for global stability and peace in practice.

Wheels of Metals: Urban Mining for a Circular Economy

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeMetals are ubiquitous – they are all around us – andprovide a foundation upon which our economies are built. Economic developmentis deeply coupled with the use of metals. During the 20th century the production has increased exponentially, and the varietyof metal applications in society has grown rapidly. In addition to massapplications such as steel in buildings, copper in wires and aluminium inairplanes, more and more metals are required for innovative technologies suchas the use of rare earth elements in renewable energy systems. Worldwide, and in particular in emerging economies,the demand for metals is rapidly increasing. The continued increase in metalsdemand and use over the 20th century has led to substantial social, economicand environmental challenges. Mining activities expand but easily accessibledeposits are becoming scarce. As a result, the supply of critical metals isunder an increasing pressure. This implies recycling, also referred to as “urbanmining”, is of growing importance in generating raw materials. In the end,the only really effective solution to the metals challenge may be to movetowards a circular economy. To be able to do that, information is neededon metal stocks in society, their size and residence time, as well as on thetechnologies that are available to recover these metals when the stocks becomeobsolete. This course, based on the reports of the Global Metals Flows WorkingGroup of UNEP’s International Resource Panel (IRP), investigates the nature ofthe metals challenge and the conditions and the consequences of the way out: acircular economy for metals.

Population Health: Predictive Analytics

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreePredictive analytics has a longstanding tradition in medicine. Developing better prediction models is a critical step in the pursuit of improved health care: we need these tools to guide our decision-making on preventive measures, and individualized treatments. In order to effectively use and develop these models, we must understand them better. In this course, you will learn how to make accurate prediction tools, and how to assess their validity. First, we will discuss the role of predictive analytics for prevention, diagnosis, and effectiveness. Then, we look at key concepts such as study design, sample size and overfitting.Furthermore, we comprehensively discuss important modelling issues such as missing values, non-linear relations and model selection. The importance of the bias-variance tradeoff and its role in prediction is also addressed. Finally, we look at various way to evaluate a model - through performance measures, and by assessing both internal and external validity. We also discuss how to update a model to a specific setting.Throughout the course, we illustrate the concepts introduced in the lectures using R. You need not install R on your computer to follow the course: you will be able to access R and all the example datasets within the Coursera environment. We do however make references to further packages that you can use for certain type of analyses – feel free to install and use them on your computer.Furthermore, each module can also contain practice quiz questions. In these, you will pass regardless of whether you provided a right or wrong answer. You will learn the most by first thinking about the answers themselves and then checking your answers with the correct answers and explanations provided.This course is part of a Master's program Population Health Management at Leiden University (currently in development).

A Circular Economy of Metals: Towards a Sustainable Societal Metabolism

4.8

Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeMetals are present everywhere around us and are one of the major materials upon which our economies are built. Economic development is deeply coupled with the use of metals. During the 20th century, the variety of metal applications in society grew rapidly. In addition to mass applications such as steel in buildings and aluminium in planes, more and more different metals are in use for innovative technologies such as the use of the speciality metal indium in LCD screens.A lot of metals will be needed in the future. It will not be easy to provide them. In particular in emerging economies, but also in industrialised countries, the demand for metals is increasing rapidly. Mining and production activities expand, and with that also the environmental consequences of metal production.In this course, we will explore those consequences and we will also explore options to move towards a more sustainable system of metals production and use. We will focus especially on the options to reach a circular economy for metals: keeping metals in use for a very long time, to avoid having to mine new ones.This course is based on the reports of the Global Metals Flows Group of the International Resource Panel that is part of UN Environment.An important aspect that will come back each week, are the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs. Those are ambitious goals to measure our progress towards a more sustainable world. We will use the SDGs as a touching stone for the assessment of the metals challenge, as well as the solutions we present in this course to solve that challenge.

Population Health: Health & Health Behaviour

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeIn this introduction course on Health and Health Behaviour you will learn about the fundamentals of health psychology. What role does our behaviour, our cognitions and emotions, and our environment play in our health status? We’ll start with unraveling health behavior, and quite quickly put this knowledge in the perspective of health care and dealing with illness. We’ll look at what is needed for people to cope with a disease and to keep up their quality of life as good as possible. How people can be optimally supported in their healthcare process, creating a collaboration between care providers and patients. Lastly we will see how all these pieces of a puzzle can be used in creating actual interventions in healthcare and what is essential to disseminate them in healthcare practice. By following this course you'll get a better understanding of why we behave as we do and how this knowledge can be optimally used to improve health care!

The Cosmopolitan Medieval Arabic World

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeDid you know that Arabic was for centuries the lingua franca in an area stretching from the south of Spain to the Chinese border? Did you know that the Middle East under Muslim rule in those days was the world’s beating heart of trade, but also of science and scholarship? Did you know that Islam in its formative period was heavily influenced by existing cultures in the region, like Indian, Greek, Persian and Byzantine culture? Did you know that for many centuries after the establishment of the Muslim Empire the majority of the population remained largely Christian and Jewish? Did you know that they held a protected status in Islamic law? Did you know that this generally open-minded, curious and open society stimulated many great innovations and inventions? Did you know that European scholarship in the Renaissance leaned heavily on the texts and inventions from the Middle East which were the outcome of this sophisticated advanced society? In this course we will focus on the fascinating history of the Arabic Medieval World. We will take you on a journey through the Middle Ages starting off in eighth-century Baghdad. Along the old pilgrim trails we will go to places like Mecca, Jerusalem and Najaf.We will show you the impressive markets of places like Cairo and Samarkand. However we will not hide the dark sides of society either, byintroducing you to the flourishing widespread slave trade. We will visit the Abbasid court, the Harem of the caliph, and the palace of the Mamluk Sultan. We will show you some beautiful medieval manuscripts, that live on as the silent witnesses of the impressive achievements of scientists and medical doctors of this forgotten era. All along we will present you with historiographical debates and dilemma’s. Reflecting on the way we look at and interpret history. And while taking you on this journey, we will travel back and forth in time explaining to you howevents of the past affected and shaped the world as we know it today. Welcome to the Cosmopolitan Medieval Arabic World! Enroll now and follow this course for free.---Testimonial:Dear Prof. Sijpesteijn I am sending this email in gratitude for the Leiden University team for this course. Please thank the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs for offering it on Coursera, the Faculty of Humanities for creating the lovely course content and the excellent reading material. Rarely have I seen an MOOC that is this well-researched and thought through. This is in addition to the excellent resources provided and the creative media. I finished the course and presently doing the honors-track. If I may introduce myself, I am Radi Radi, a Palestinian-Jordanian who lives on "Shajaret Al Dur" St. in Amman, Jordan. It was quite an coincidence to learn about her here.I work as a pilot and currently we are not flying anywhere currently so I thought of finishing this course. I am a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Ryerson Univeristy, Canada and this really felt like the 100-level electives I took in that it really is a university-level course. I have bought a few books that I have read about in your course and that meant that I have something else to do in this corona-imposed hiatus. After Once aviation kicks back into gear, I hope to be flying to Amsterdam Again. When that happens, I plan on bringing you guys a gift from Amman for your efforts. Many ThanksRadi Radi

International Law in Action: the Arbitration of International Disputes

4.9

Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely Free‘The Arbitration of International Disputes’ is the third course of Leiden University’sseries on International Law in Action. The first course covered generalities on the international courts and tribunals in The Hague, while the second course provided an insider'sperspective into the work of international criminal courts and tribunals.This third course explores the major aspects of international arbitration as one of the most common method of international dispute settlement . Through this course you will gain an in-depth understanding of thevarious facets of international arbitration through the analysis of its role as a mechanism of dispute settlement, its institutions, the fields of law it is applicable to, and, of course, its most famous awards. The main question we will answer together during this course is "Can international arbitration contribute to the creation of a peaceful world through the settlement of disputes between States and between States and non-State actors?" In order to do so, we will learn the basic historical concepts or arbitration, as well as everything there is to know about the Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in The Hague. We will then dive into the role of international arbitration in settling disputes relating to the Law of the Sea, with a particular insight into the landmark South China Sea Arbitration. For an entire module, we will focus on investment arbitration, its principles and the procedure of the ICSID, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. We will conclude the course with a module on the interplay between state immunity and enforcement of arbitral awards. This is brought to light through the Yukos Arbitration which is a perfect illustration of the topic.This course offers you an opportunity to gain a better insight into international arbitration, its role and the current issues relating to it. You will gain in-depth knowledge of the principles and rules of arbitration. You will explore the topic through concrete examples and the most prominent arbitrations. You will also grasp the notion of international arbitration navigating between law and politics. International arbitration and The Hague go hand in hand: several key arbitration institutes are located in The Hague and important disputes were settled here through arbitration. The Hague is, so to speak, ‘the place to be for international arbitration’, especially when we are dealing with arbitration between States, or arbitration of investment disputes between foreign investors and States. Join us for the course and become an expert on international arbitration!This course is free to join and to participate in. There is the possibility to get a verified certificate for the course, which is a paid option. If you want a certificate, but are unable to pay for it, you can request financial aid via Coursera.

Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics

4.6

Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeEverywhere, every day, everybody uses language. There is no human society, no matter how small or how isolated, which does not employ a language that is rich and diverse. This course introduces you to linguistics, featuring interviews with well-known linguists and with speakers of many different languages. Join us to explore the miracles of human language!The Miracles of Human Language introduces you to the many-faceted study of languages, which has amazed humans since the beginning of history. Together with speakers of many other languages around the world, as well as with famous linguists such as Noam Chomsky and Adele Goldberg, you will learn to understand and analyse how your native tongue is at the same time similar and different from many other languages. You will learn the basic concepts of linguistics, get to know some of the key features of big and small languages and get insight into what linguists do.This course gives an introduction into the study of languages, the field of linguistics. With the support of the basic linguistic terminology that is offered in the course, you will soon be able to comment both on variety between languages, as well as on a single language’s internal structure. Anyone who wishes to understand how languages work, and how they can give us insight into the human mind is very welcome to join.The course is useful if you want to get a fairly quick introduction into linguistics, for instance because you are considering studying it further, or because you are interested in a neighbouring discipline such as psychology, computer science or anthropology. Furthermore, the course will help you develop analytical skills.If you are curious to understand how language works and how it gives insight into the human mind, this course is definitely for you!

De-Mystifying Mindfulness

4.8

Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeInterest in meditation, mindfulness, and contemplation has grown exponentially in recent years.Rather than being seen as mystical practices from ancient Buddhism or esoteric philosophy, they are increasingly seen as technologies rooted in evidence from psychology and neuroscience.Mindfulness has become the basis for numerous therapeutic interventions, both as a treatment in healthcare and as a means of enhancing well-being and happiness.For millions around the world, mindfulness has become a life-style choice, enhancing and enriching everyday experience. Mindfulness is big business.But, what actually is mindfulness?Is it really good for you?Can anyone learn it?How can you recognize charlatans? Would you want to live in a mindful society, and would it smell like sandalwood?What does it feel like to be mindful?Are you mindful already, and how would you know?Evolving from the popular Honours Academy course at Leiden University, this innovative course combines conventional scholarly inquiry from multiple disciplines (ranging from psychology, through philosophy, to politics) with experiential learning (including specially designed ‘meditation labs,’ in which you’ll get chance to practice and analyze mindfulness on yourself).In the end, the course aims to provide a responsible, comprehensive, and inclusive education about (and in) mindfulness as a contemporary phenomenon.During the production of this course, we have been supported by Willem Kuyken, Director of the University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre, and Stephen Batchelor, co-founder of Bodhi College.And we gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by Mark Williams, co-developer of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Rebecca Crane, Director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at the University of Bangor. We have recently added expert advice from Dawn Scott (Spirit Rock & Barre Centre for Buddhist Studies), Sydney Spears (University of Kansa), Elisabeth Stanley (Georgetown University), Susan Woods (Centre for Mindfulness Studies), Patricia Rockman (University of Toronto) and Jeff Corntassel (University of Victoria)."A deep and profound dive into the ethical, social, psychological, and philosophical implications of modern-day mindfulness practice. The course is not for the faint of heart, perhaps, but it is also full of practical, guided exercises for the uninitiated! Thank you for redefining my relationship to Mindfulness in a completely new and thought-provoking way" 28 april 2021"The course enabled me to explore the mindfulness construct at its deeper lever from philosophical, psychological and political lenses. The mindfulness labs were very useful in practicing the skills of being mindful." 23 nov 2018"i took this course after a period of time when I was trying to practice mindfulness and meditation, but with doubtful success. The course answered many questions to me, and I needed that to keep me motivated. It really helped me understand the origins and, more importantly, benefits of mindfulness practice and made me persist in my attempts. I'm really glad I took the course, I find it interesting, well taught and very useful for all those seeking deeper explanation in why trying mindfulness." 9 Oct 2018"I have taken other courses in other online platforms. However, this has been one of the best courses I have found online." 3 Oct 2018"I really like the invitation to us, the learners, to rethink our preconceptions and beliefs, and then make our own judgement about mindfulness. The overall tone was very friendly and open, resources very useful." 12 Dec 2017

Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation

4.3

Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeKidney transplantation is a major advance of modern medicine which provides high-quality of life for patients with end-stage renal disease. What used to be an experimental, risky, and very limited treatment option more than 50 years ago is now routinely performed in many countries worldwide. The number of renal transplants is expected to rise sharply in the next decade since the proportion of patients with end stage renal disease is increasing. Are you interested in clinical kidney, pancreas and islet transplantation? If you are a (bio) medical student or a health care professional who works in the (pre) clinical transplant field this might be the course for you. This course is also for anyone interested in the research and knowledge on clinical transplantation. The course will be taught by a multidisciplinary team of transplant professionals and will give you the state of the art updates. It is divided in 4 modules: 1) Before the transplant 2) The surgical procedures and the challenged patient, including the patient with diabetes 3) Early challenges 4) Late challenges after transplantation. The offered modules will include lectures, interactive patient cases, 3D movies, interviews with well-known experts and with patients and a donor, a serious game to increase knowledge of the field and of course an active forum. Become an expert and join us!The course is endorsed by The European Society of Organ Transplantation (ESOT), The International Society of Nephrology (ISN) and The Transplantation Society (TTS).This MOOC has been accredited for Continuing Medical Education (CME). Health care professionals who works in the (pre) clinical transplant field, other health care professionals and general practitioners can obtain CME credit at 'LUMC-Boerhaave CME' upon passing the course. For more information we like to refer to the "Additional introduction for obtaining CME credit" module in week 1 of the course For another interesting course on organ donation and transplantation, see Organ Donation: From Death to Life from Cape Town University https://www.coursera.org/learn/organ-donation

Anatomy of the Abdomen and Pelvis; a journey from basis to clinic.

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Class Central TipsLearn How to Sign up to Coursera courses for free1600+ Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely FreeIn this anatomy course you will explore the organs involved in our food digestion and discover the common causes of abdominal and pelvic pain. The latest graphics and animations will help you to find new insights and understanding of this part of the body, that has been the focus of anatomical research for centuries and presently arouses renewed scientific interest.You will explore the 3D anatomy of the organs from a basic level, providing thorough anatomical understanding, to its advanced application in surgical procedures. This course will challenge you to discover and help you to understand the anatomy of the abdomen and pelvis in all its aspects, ranging from its embryological underpinnings, via digital microscopy to gross topography and its clinical applications.The course is unique in that it continuously connects basic anatomical knowledge from the lab with its medical applications and current diagnostic techniques. You’ll get the chance to discuss anatomical and clinical problems with peers and experts in forum discussions and you will receive guidance in exploring the wealth of anatomical information that has been gathered over the centuries. Follow us on an exciting journey through the abdomen and pelvis where you digest your food but also where new life starts!

Demystifying Mindfulness

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Experience mindfulness for yourself, and learn whether it really worksInterest in meditation, mindfulness, and contemplation has grown rapidly in recent years. These practises are increasingly being seen as scientifically and psychologically valid forms of therapy.As new evidence from neuroscience backs up the claims for mindfulness’ value, it is now being adopted by practitioners as a tool for therapy, and by big business as a ‘lifestyle choice’.But what is mindfulness? And how exactly does it work? On this course you’ll explore the academic underpinnings of mindfulness – stripping away its ‘mystery’ once and for all.This course is for mindfulness beginners and professionals, academics and non-academics. If you’re interested in mindfulness – whatever the level – you’ll enjoy discovering its academic underpinnings, allowing you to judge for yourselves and examine sources.