X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) refers to the details of how x-rays are absorbed by an atom at energies near and above the core-level binding energies of that atom. XAFS spectra are especially sensitive to the formal oxidation state, coordination chemistry, and the distances, coordination number and species of the atoms immediately surrounding the selected element. Because of this dependence, XAFS provides a practical, and relatively simple, way to determine the chemical state and local atomic structure for a selected atomic species. XAFS can be used in a variety of systems and bulk physical environment. XAFS is routinely used in a wide range of scientific fields, including biology, environmental science, catalysts research, and material science.This short course is for those interested in learning about the use of x-ray absorption spectroscopy methods. It will be useful for those students who are interested in learning XANES and EXAFS methods, including experiment and data analysis, and are interested in advanced analysis and modeling methods applicable for nanomaterials research. The course will be run online. During the course, students will learn basic knowledge of XAFS, including problem solving, data analysis and modeling. There will be in depth practicums of the EXAFS and XANES analysis software programs. The first 12 sessions will be devoted to lectures on fundamental knowledges of XAFS, and demonstrations of the software packages for XAFS data reduction and analysis. The last four sessions will be devoted to the practical session, in which participants will practice problem solving methods discussed in the previous days.