controversy surrounds an online class on the edX learning platform , which was co - founded by Harvard and MIT in 2012 with the mission of increasing access to university courses globally . Several Harvard professors have alleged that the course , “ Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought , ” taught by an associate professor of Tsinghua ’s School of Marxism at Tsinghua University , represents a particularly biased perspective on history , influenced greatly by the Chinese Communist Party ’s official historical account of Mao ’s life . —Staff writer C. Ramsey Fahs can be reached at cfahs@college.harvard.edu. As edX attempts to increase access to high - quality education , many professors feel it must increase its efforts to ensure both the quality , and lack of political bias , of its courses .
controversy surrounds an online class on the edX learning platform , which was co - founded by Harvard and MIT in 2012 with the mission of increasing access to university courses globally . Several Harvard professors have alleged that the course , “ Introduction to Mao Zedong Thought , ” taught by an associate professor of Tsinghua ’s School of Marxism at Tsinghua University , represents a particularly biased perspective on history , influenced greatly by the Chinese Communist Party ’s official historical account of Mao ’s life . As edX attempts to increase access to high - quality education , many professors feel it must increase its efforts to ensure both the quality , and lack of political bias , of its courses .