Summer can be a slow season in many workplaces, with vacation time and relaxed schedules to help employees focus on well-being. At Penn LPS Online, things are just heating up: summer brings new courses and new opportunities. If you’re planning to prepare for a new program or new project in the fall, summer is a great time to brush up on essential skills. If you’re hoping to expand your horizons and ignite your intellectual curiosity, then Penn LPS Online is the place to dive deep into studies you won’t find anywhere else.
Ready to come in hot this summer at Penn? Summer courses begin on May 26. Current Penn LPS Online students can register for courses via Path@Penn after March 23. If you are new to our programs, enrollment is easy—just complete and submit the enrollment form and nonrefundable fee through our online application system. New Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences students can apply by April 1 for a summer start, while new certificate students and course-takers can enroll before May 5.
Explore intellectual paths to wellness
RELC 3100: Spirituality, Wellness, and Identity: Making Meaning in the Modern World
While more and more people in the modern world move away from traditional institutional religions, we also see more people exploring alternative ways of making meaning in their lives. Not only spiritual practices like meditation and yoga but also hobbies and activities— like fitness, gardening, and music—can become (like places of worship) sites to gather and participate in ritual. This course applies a religious studies lens to contemporary wellness practices, inviting close engagement through readings, discussions, and interviews with practitioners including chefs, philanthropists, sports enthusiasts, and social justice activists. The result is an immersive learning journey like no other, inviting personal reflection as well as cultural analysis.
Read more about this course and its objectives in the Penn LPS Online feature Meet the team who brings your online courses to life.
- Instructor: Justin McDaniel, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Professor of the Humanities
- 8-week course offered in summer (May 26 – July 17, 2026)
- May be taken as an individual course
- May be applied toward the BAAS concentrations in Individualized Studies, and Literature, Culture, and Tradition
CRWR 2500: Writing and Meditation
Where does creativity come from? For some writers and artists, contemplative practices like meditation can enhance awareness and open new imaginative pathways. No previous experience in writing or meditation is necessary for this course, which will explore new research in brain science as well as time-honored traditions of mindfulness through sacred texts, music, visual art, and literature. Through writing prompts, immersive experiences, peer feedback, and class discussions, you’ll explore how practices such as attention, movement, listening, and dreaming can influence your creative process—and even expand your enjoyment as a reader and learner.
- Instructor: Laynie Browne, Poet, prose writer, artist, editor, and teacher
- 8-week course offered in summer (May 26 – July 17, 2026)
- May be taken as an individual course
- May be applied toward a Certificate in Creative Writing
- May be applied toward the BAAS concentrations in Creative Studies, Individualized Studies, and Literature, Culture, and Tradition
Develop skills you can put to work right away
PROW 3030: Publishing Your Research: Writing Journal Articles and Book Chapters
The ability to translate your academic research and analysis into meaningful, publishable content is a skill-intensive process. This new course is intended for advanced academic writers—whether you have an academic work in progress that would benefit from focused attention and revision, or you wish to polish your academic writing skills for your undergraduate capstone or graduate work. If you’ve already taken PROW 1030: Introduction to College Writing or are nearing the end of your degree program, you may benefit from focusing down on the varied styles and conventions of academic genres, documentation, and how to put good time management and mindfulness into practice.
- Instructor: Valerie Ross, Faculty Director, Penn LPS Online Certificate in Professional Writing
- 8-week course offered in summer (May 26 – July 17, 2026)
- May be taken as an individual course
- May be applied toward a Certificate in Professional Writing
- May be applied toward the BAAS concentrations in Individualized Studies
CLCH 3000: Communicating Science
Understanding science is one kind of skill that can be cultivated, deepened, and explored over many years of academic commitment. Communicating science—especially to nonspecialists who depend on scientific data to make decisions in fields like business and policy—is a related but separate skill. Best suited for students who have already completed some college-level science courses (for example, other courses in the Certificate in Climate Change), this course will help you refine your communication skills in crafting messages to address different audiences and genres.
- Instructor: Elizabeth C. Scheyder, Senior Instructional Technology Project Leader, School of Arts & Sciences Computing and Lecturer in SAS and LPS
- 8-week course offered in summer (May 26 – July 17, 2026)
- May be taken as an individual course
- May be applied toward the Certificate in Climate Change and Certificate in Science Foundations
- May be applied toward the BAAS concentrations in Individualized Studies and Physical and Life Sciences
MTHS 2200: Introduction to Applied Statistics
Even if crunching numbers is not a critical part of your job responsibilities, it can be helpful to brush up on math and quantitative skills to understand how and why data inform workplace decision-making and problem-solving. This introductory statistics course covers the fundamental techniques for using sample data to make inferences about populations, culminating in specific procedures for statistical inferences from large and small samples, single and multiple linear regressions, and measuring correlation.
For related reading, check out the instructor’s book recommendation in Summer reading for the science-curious: 7 books recommended by Penn faculty.
- Instructor: Patrick Shields, Mathematics Lecturer
- 8-week course offered in summer (May 26 – July 17, 2026)
- May be taken as an individual course
- May be applied toward the Leadership and Communication and Upskill Certificate
- May be applied toward the BAAS concentrations in Individualized Studies, Leadership and Communication, and Physical and Life Sciences
Understanding contemporary issues through a scholarly lens
DISG 1700: Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life
According to Trans Legislation Tracker, there are hundreds of bills under consideration across the United States that would negatively impact trans and gender non-conforming people. Gender and sexuality shape our social reality in increasingly obvious ways—and also influence our social behavior and connections in less overt but meaningful ways. Rooted in social science, this course asks you to examine how gender and sexuality are represented in the media and popular culture you consume, how gendered behavior or identity show up in your own personal and professional life, and how varying cultural contexts can influence the way you think about or experience these issues. As part of the Certificate in Dialogue, Ethics, and Social Good, the course will also help you develop the vocabulary and theoretical frameworks to understand identity and intersectionality—and to connect these ideals to larger conversations about communities, belonging, and justice.
- Instructor: Everette Davidove, PhD, Lecturer
- 8-week course offered in summer (May 26 – July 17, 2026)
- May be taken as an individual course
- May be applied toward a Certificate in Dialogue, Ethics, and Social Good
- May be applied toward the BAAS concentrations in Individualized Studies and Literature, Culture, and Tradition
DIGC 3600: Applications of Digital Culture
When technology changes rapidly—like the proliferation of artificial intelligence applications or the pervasiveness of video on social media—it can challenge or transform the social norms that previously defined how we understand the world and our place in it. This course is designed to dig into difficult questions such as these: What are our ethical responsibilities as digital users and consumers? How do we develop norms and expectations around digital privacy and communication, and when do we question or challenge those norms? What boundaries might we need between digital culture and our daily lives to protect our own well-being?
To learn more, watch a short video on YouTube about this course and other Certificate in Digital Strategies courses. This course draws upon foundational vocabulary and knowledge in digital culture, so you do need to have taken either DIGC 1200 or DIGC 1600 to take this course. Fortunately, DIGC 1200: Digital Literacy and Cultural Change is also offered in the summer, and you can enroll in the introductory course now to explore advanced material in a later term.
- Instructor: Meryl Krieger, PhD, Senior Learning Designer, Arts and Sciences Online Learning, University of Pennsylvania
- 8-week course offered in summer (May 26 – July 17, 2026)
- May be taken as an individual course
- May be applied toward a Certificate in Digital Strategies
- May be applied toward the BAAS concentrations in Individualized Studies and Literature, Culture, and Tradition
Ready to get started? View our course guide to see the full range of what’s available in the upcoming terms.
