The institute offers online courses related to the Middle East in Finnish that are open to everyone. The online courses are free of charge and do not require prior knowledge. The courses can be taken as to further education or out of sheer curiosity. The courses or sections of them can also be applied, for example, in educational use. You can complete the courses independently at your own pace on a computer or other smart device. All courses are only available in Finnish. You get a certificate for completing the courses and the amount of work is equivalent to one Finnish university credit. Registration must be negotiated separately with your own educational institution. The courses have been implemented in cooperation with the University of Helsinki and Ixir Oy. You can find all our online courses at lahi-itakurssit.fi.
Understanding the Middle East today
Are you interested in the societies of the modern Middle East, but the subject seems difficult? Can the Middle East even be understood? The Middle East is in the headlines a lot and often in connection with various conflicts. The societies of the region can easily appear as a tangled tangle, buzzing with foreign-sounding nomenclature and seemingly eternal disputes. Do you want to learn to understand the Middle East and its politics?
In the course, you will learn to understand today’s societies in the Middle East so that you can better participate in the discussion about the Middle East. Hot topics are examined in the light of academic research. The course’s experts are professor Hannu Juusola and university lecturer Riikka Tuori from the University of Helsinki. Start the course here!
A misunderstood religion? Basics of Islam
There are a lot of misconceptions about terms and phenomena related to Islam in traditional and social media, which make it difficult for a constructive discussion to occur. FIME’s online course “Misunderstood religion? The basics of Islam” opens the ways and terms related to Islam from the perspective of scientific research, taking into account the geographical diversity and historical phases of Islam.
In the course, we learn that Islam is not only a religion of the Middle East or the Arabs, but its practitioners can be found all over the world. In addition, the course covers the meaning of various terms such as fatwa, sharia, jihad and sufi. The online course is perfect for anyone who wants to get to know Islam without previous knowledge of the subject. You can apply for one credit for completing the course through the Finnish Open University. Start the course here!
