I’d forgotten about this course that I’d enrolled in about 18 months ago in the middle of the stupid lockdowns but didn’t proceed with as I decided to do a few courses on cycling infrastructure via Amsterdam University instead.
The Coursera team is of course fighting this war as if they were a soldier in Kiev. There’s therefore no need for any of them to actually go there.
The main problem is that purely due to their extensive Arctic estate Russia does a lot of the Arctic science in the world. And they have a different attitude than the Western Universities do as well where methane release is not considered to be as important to the world as CO2 in the atmosphere. In the meantime methane has gone from about 800 parts per billion about 150 years ago to 2,000 parts per billion now. And in parts of the Arctic it has spiked well above that in the last few years. And ice loss in the Arctic is extensive in the last few decades (it actually is, ignore the idiots who say that it isn’t) raising the prospect of a large ‘methane fart’ from the permafrost so the more eyes on it the better. But no, Coursera is not interested thank you.
I did send a response to them.
“Russia is at the forefront of Arctic climate science. You can't just enroll in an Arts University on the East Coast that caters for 600 genders to replace it you know.
Cheers
Richard”
So far I’ve only had an automated response.
I am glad that they "remain committed to ensuring learners everywhere have access ... ". Don't you like these parting kicks.
I think that there used to be a term for business that is so in the pocket of government. Visa and MasterCard also qualify for the term. It means something like Public/Private partnerships, and I think it begins with F.
Ask for a refund. Why let them keep your $$? (I don’t know if coursera is free or not?)