Massive open online course provider edX is announced a new slate of courses for spring 2013. The new schedule includes the not-for-profit's first forays into the humanities and social sciences. With the new courses, edX brings a variety of subjects, from political philosophy to quantum mechanics, online. The second semester also marks the debut of courses from UC Berkley. The classes being offered are:

• Justice from Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel. Sandel's online lectures on moral and civic dilemmas have garnered million views.
• Introduction to Statistics from UC Berkley lecturer Ani Adhikari, the recipient of UC Berkeley's distinguished teaching award.
• The challenges of global poverty from Esther Duflo, an MIT economist who has spearheaded a comprehensive evaluation of the roots of poverty in developing nations.
• The Ancient Greek Hero from Gregory Nagy, Harvard's professor of ancient Greek literature will use modern technology to help students engage with the poetry, songs, and stories that continue to resonate through global culture.
• Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Computation from Umesh Vazirani a UC Berkley computer scientist and the Strauch distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the director of the Berkeley Quantum Information and Computation Center.
• Human health and global environmental change from Aaron Bernstein, the associate director of the center for health and the global environment at Harvard's school of public health.

In addition to the new courses, edX will be bringing back many of the courses offered in the fall 2012 semester. The spring semester will also see the launch of an experimental course on copyright law which will explore the current state of copyright law and the ongoing debates about how it should be reformed. Unlike edX's other courses "Copyright" will only be open to 500 students, all of whom will be chosen from an open application process that will begin in late January 2013.

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