Program Overview

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Centre for Continuing Education

The Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sydney offers a diverse range of professional development short courses. These courses are designed to enhance career progression, technical skills, and people skills.

Course Subjects

The Centre provides courses in various subjects, including:

• Business and management
  • Business communication
  • Business strategy
  • Business writing
  • Cultural competence and diversity
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Organisational psychology
  • Sales and customer service
• English
• HSC preparation (years 10-12)
  • HSC biology
  • HSC business studies
  • HSC chemistry
  • HSC economics
  • HSC English
  • HSC mathematics
  • HSC physics
  • Year 11 (Revision)
  • Years 10-12 study and essay skills
• Humanities and culture
  • Creative writing
  • Music
  • Philosophy
  • Psychology
• Information technology
  • Adobe
  • AI and machine learning courses
  • Data analysis and analytics
  • Google
  • Microsoft
• Language
  • Arabic
  • Brazilian Portuguese
  • Chinese
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Spanish
• Marketing
  • Digital marketing
  • Marketing communications
  • Product development
• Project management
  • Agile methodology courses
  • Change management for projects
  • Stakeholder and people management
  • Technical project management skills

Discounts and Course Funding

The Centre offers various discounts and course funding options, including:

• The University of Sydney alumni
• The University of Sydney staff
• The University of Sydney students
• Multiple enrolments
• Prepaid credit bonus offer
• Loyalty
• Seniors and pensioners
• Repeat courses

Organisational Training

The Centre provides organisational training and development, designed for workplace needs. This includes team training and tailored content for groups of six or more.

Philosophy Course: Descartes - I think Therefore I Am

This course examines Descartes' bold quest for certainty and his lasting influence on philosophy. It explores key ideas about the mind, self, and knowledge, and connects Descartes' writings with modern debates on consciousness, identity, and the nature of reality.

Course Information

• The course aims to provoke thought and discussion, giving participants new perspectives on their own thinking processes and the relation of their thoughts to other minds.
• The course introduces participants to the thoughts of Descartes through a 'close encounter' with his writing.
• By the end of the course, participants should be able to identify key concepts in Descartes' philosophy of mind and the self, discuss the historical background of the beginnings of modern philosophy, and relate their ideas to contemporary debates about human consciousness and the nature of the self.

Content

• Historical context: The course explores the 17th-century transition in the concept of consciousness and its connection to other important issues of debate during that time.
• Style: The course examines Descartes' writing style, which is surprisingly accessible, and his famous dictum "I think, therefore I am."
• Descartes' theory of the mind: The course delves into Descartes' theory of mind as an immaterial, nonextended substance that engages in various activities or undergoes various states.
• The self: The course compares Descartes' theory of self to that of John Locke and David Hume.
• Legacy: The course considers Descartes' contribution to many areas of knowledge, including scientific methodology, mathematics, ethics, and the importance of counter-movements against Descartes' mind-body dualism.

Intended Audience

The course is designed for anyone with a general interest in philosophy and the course themes.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for the course.

Delivery Style

The course is delivered through lecture/discussion.

Delivery Mode

The course is delivered online via the platform Zoom.

Materials

Course notes are provided for each session, and all course materials are provided electronically via Dropbox.

Related Courses

The Centre offers various related courses, including:

• Great Philosophical Essays Course
• Introduction to Philosophy Course
• Philosophy Course: An Introduction to Epicurean and Stoic Philosophy
• Philosophy Course: Heidegger
• Philosophy Course: Introduction to Ethics
• Philosophy Course: Introduction to Kant
• Philosophy Course: Introduction to Nietzsche
• Philosophy Course: Introduction to Plato
• Philosophy Course: Introduction to Shakespeare
• Philosophy Course: Philosophical Ideas on Five Contemporary Issues
• Philosophy Course: Philosophy of Money, Debt and Trust
• Philosophy Course: Socrates and the Foundation of Western Philosophy
• Philosophy Course: Spinoza
• Philosophy Course: The Art of Critical Thinking
• Philosophy Course: Wittgenstein's Life, Language and Thoughts
• Philosophy Course: Work in the Age of AI
• Philosophy in the 21st Century Course: Ten Great Contemporary Thinkers
• Philosophy of Art Course: Introduction from Plato to the Postmodern
• Philosophy of Love Course
• Philosophy of Sociology and Archaeology Course

FAQs

The Centre provides answers to frequently asked questions about applications, payment, short courses, and more.

Contact Us

The Centre's student support team can answer questions about short courses.

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