Posted on 12/04/2023 7:00:03 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Approximately 20.4 million students headed off to college campuses in the United States last year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. And of those 20.4 million, it's a good bet that, come course selection morning, about 20.3 million weighed just how fun a class in calculus or Renaissance poetry would actually be. Yes, it's no secret that some college courses can be rote and—dare we say—total snoozers. But the flip side is also true!
Digging through the curriculum guides of American universities will reveal a treasure trove of fun, exciting, downright ridiculous-sounding courses. In other words: If you've ever wanted to pick up a degree in Yeti Hunting, or Tree Climbing, or Lady Gaga (we're serious), or Zeitgeist Science Fiction Television Series (Westworld and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, take note), now's your chance. Schools around the country—from Cornell to Emerson to the University of South Carolina—offer up these crazy curriculum. Seriously: each and every one of these actually exists. Don't believe us? Read on, and see for yourself. And for more insight on what really goes on behind the scenes at your alma mater, discover these 20 Secrets Your College Professor Won't Tell You.
Your favorite pastime as a child can now earn you college credit—and at an Ivy League school, no less. At Cornell University, students can take a one-credit class in Tree Climbing which will "teach you how to get up into the canopy of any tree, to move around, even to climb from one tree to another without touching the ground." And for more fun ways to get in your daily burn, learn the 30 Ways to Get Six-Pack Abs.
At yet another Ivy League school, students can explore the art of getting ready in the morning, courtesy of a course called "Getting Dressed." This freshman seminar at Princeton University, taught by scholar and author Jenna Weissman Joselit, examines how what we wear—and why we wear it—shapes who we are, and vice versa. And when you want to streamline your own wardrobe, learn the 40 Best Tips For Dressing Well In Your 40s.
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Little Monsters will fall hard for the University of South Carolina's strange ode to Mother Monster herself, a course dubbed "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame." After becoming enthralled with the singer and artist after seeing her on television, sociology professor Mathieu Deflem devised the course, explaining to The New York Times, "The central objective is to unravel some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga." And for more surprising info on your favorite stars, check out these 50 Crazy Celebrity Facts You Won't Believe Are True.
While you may think of South Park as little more than a humorous, albeit vulgar, distraction from your day-to-day life, some scholars see it differently. According to two professors at McDaniel College in Maryland, the show is worth some serious study. "Often controversial itself, South Park uses humor to explore issues such as immigration, gay marriage, terrorism, and hundreds more," according to professors Dr. Josh Baron and Dr. Sara Raley, who co-teach the course.
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You probably think you know how to watch TV pretty well by this point: put on comfy pants, plant yourself on the couch, and zone out. However, undergrads at Montclair State University can fine-tune this art with the school's How to Watch Television class, the aim of which is "for students to critically evaluate the role of television in their lives as well as in the life of the culture." And when it comes time to plop on the couch for hours, you could do worse than powering through the 30 Funniest Sitcoms of All Time.
Can't get enough of HBO's science fiction hit Westworld? You're in good company. At Bennington College in Vermont, you can take a deep dive into the show with professor J. Vanessa Lyon, PhD. In the course, students explore everything from cyborgs to TV westerns, earning two credits along the way. And to boost your own sci-fi knowledge, bone up on the 20 Long-Predicted Technologies That Are Never Going to Happen.
Want some incentive to get moving? Sign up for The Art of Walking at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. While the course touches on the work of everyone from Heidegger to Kant, it's also, more specifically, just a really long walk, with participants walking up to 25 miles at a stretch.
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Game of Thrones is more than just a great show: studying it is also a way to earn college credit at the University of Virginia. Fortunately, Game of Thrones purists will also get to explore the George R. R. Martin books on which the series is based, comparing and contrasting the worlds created in print and on screen. And for more on Westeros, take a peek Inside the World's First Game of Thrones-Themed Hotel.
Do you believe the truth is out there? Are you certain you spotted a Bigfoot print? If that sounds like you, you might just love the Cryptozoology class at Oberlin Experimental College in Ohio. This one-credit class, devoted to the study of cryptids, from the chupacabra to the Loch Ness Monster, is undeniably weird, but sounds a whole lot more fun than your average college seminar. And for more information on other species, discover these 40 Amazing Animal Facts.
If you're ever wondered whether or not the USS Enterprise would have actually been capable of flight, Santa Clara University might be the school for you. At this California university, students can study the physics that might enable their favorite intergalactic ships to fly. And to discover what sci-fi predictions you can expect to come true, This Is What Life Could Look Like 100 Years From Now.
While it's since been taken out of the course catalog, students at the University of Wisconsin—Madison once had the great privilege of taking a course in Elvish, the fictional language spoken by elves in J. R. R. Tolkien's seminal Lord of the Rings series.
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Whether you're a fan of Ghost or just can't get enough of Sister Act, professor Charles I. Nero's "Makin' Whoopi: Goldberg's Canon" class at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, has got you covered.
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Surfing is: a great workout, a cool skill to show off to your friends, and, if you're a student at the University of California—Santa Barbara, an academic subject worthy of study. In addition to teaching the history of the medium, students in this course will also learn about the issues facing coastal communities, and how surfing has influenced cultures around the world.
If you are so good at vacationing you could practically go pro, the University of Iowa's course on the subject might just be for you. While most of us think of vacations as a way to have fun with friends are family, the course description cautions, "Vacations are more serious events than you might think."
Combines a little glycerin, some air, and a plastic wand, and what do you get? A class at Caltech, apparently. Exploring bubbles in their many forms, from those that pose danger to engines to those that aid in medical procedures, this course is nothing short of an ebulliophobic's nightmare.
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Is it the cold brew coursing through their veins, the circulation-stifling effects of a pair of skinny jeans, or just an overinflated sense of self-worth that makes your average hipster tick? At Tufts Experimental College, students can take a deep dive into the mind of these modern-day bohemians by signing up for the aptly-titled "Demystifying the Hipster" course.
While many of us were obsessed with Mischa Barton's beachy waves and the relationship drama between Summer and Seth, The O.C. hardly seemed worthy of academic study—until Duke University made the case otherwise, that is. For a period of time, the prestigious school allowed students to study the culture surrounding the hit show and the "California exceptionalism" it exemplified.
If you've ever wanted to know if you would make it out alive in a zombie apocalypse, Michigan State University has the one course that can give you a definitive answer. Better yet, since the class is offered entirely online, you can study in the privacy of your own room, even further reducing your chances of becoming an undead being's next meal.
For those who are still binge-watching Buffy in their free time, Boston's Emerson College has just the course for you. "Deconstructing TV's Buffy," a four-credit seminar, takes a deep dive into this supernatural Joss Whedon hit, allowing students to explore everything form the show's mythology to the countless ways the show's characters have been adapted into everything from comics to fan fiction.
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Have you been suffering the indignity of being offered fake maple syrup tine and time again? Well, no longer, thanks to this unique course offered at Alfred University. While students do get to tap maple trees in the class, the course also explores everything from local maple sugaring operations to environmental science along the way. And for more sweet foodie fun, discover The 50 Best Foods for Your Brain.
While I was in school we had electives to be sure, but “these sorts of courses” didn’t exist.
so i guess good ol’ “Underwater Basket Weaving” has gone the way of the Dodo bird ...
At UT I saw two kinds of one semester courses for students outside a major, from the inside:
1. Liberal Arts major taking a science course: Student signs up because it sounds fun, normal and easy, such as a semester course choice which, if they were a communication major (future reporter), would be the single required college level math or science course to graduate. One so easy it would not be for graduation credit in STEM. I knew a teaching assistant in Astronomy. The Astronomy profs made these elective science courses pathetically easy, because it brought $$$ into the department budget per student. They competed between departments for bucks to teach the easiest and sexiest / funnest STEM electives but those students complained that they had to be learn one equation (Newton’s law of Gravitation). These are your current Walter Krankheits.
2.Science or Engineering major taking liberal arts course: Student signs up because it sounds fun and normal. Example English course on “Kurt Vonnegut”. In reality a leftist brainwashing course where you could lose your GPA for grad or professional school for disagreeing about the leftist social activist / social justice / Marxist cryptic messages the teaching assistant saw in Vonnegut’s sci fi / humor satirical novels and stories. Or in Dickens. Ideology test from hell: you sign up for fun and they kneecap your future career based on political correctness.
I used to go to the Co-op (student bookstore) and read books from different majors and textbooks. The Communications (journalism Radio / Television / Film etc.) dept had their own history courses because the History dept wasn’t radical leftist enough ( 70s) . It was history rewrite without the chance of mixing it up with anybody who knew historical facts.
The Law School textbook store had required Marxism textbooks. (80s)
By contrast, A&M had educational objectives set out in writing for every course, and you could test out of anything if you proved you had mastered those educational objectives.
UT did not. I don’t think they didn’t want to say what they were really teaching out loud. They wanted your ass in a chair in their reducation camp to brainwash you where the parents and legislature wouldn’t know.
One time there was an srticle in the Austin Statesman ( I call it the Altered Statesman) about their student application and acceptance interview process, and they bragged how they asked “tell me about an issue where you disagree with your patrents.” I.E. if you had agreed with and gave some weight to your parents guidance, they didn’t want you.
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As I’ve said many times... a lobotomy is far cheaper and obtains the same effect as most college degrees.
Years ago a similar list was posted. I made fun of the tree climbing class, but another freeper pointed out that it could be important to someone like a fire fighter who might need those skills. I agree with that.
Hmmm ... Literature courses don’t just have to be Shakespeare.
Science courses for non-scientists don’t have to be quite as “serious” as for the science majors ... and the popular culture tie in might be just what’s needed to get the non-scientists to pay attention and actually learn something.
I notice nothing about lesbian studies, or gay studies, or afrocentrism studies, or how to be a communist agitator.
You’re being played ...
Almost certainly.
I took two or three of those ... got 1 credit-hour for "trapshooting" and another 1 credit-hour for "fencing".
All work and no play makes the physics major go even more insane than he already is.
Discussion stopped and the "requirement" was rejected.
You don’t need to go to college to make maple syrup.
Put some sap on the stove and boil it down.
If that is to complicated look on rumble.
I do. It is women entering college hoping to find a good man to marry.
Passed maple syrup class taught by my grandfather in the 60s. He got a visit from a fed once who thought he was making moonshine.
The daughter of a friend actually received an undergraduate degree in Peace and Environmental Studies from a major private University. It qualified her for a job as a a barista. I guess one could raise an eyebrow about my under graduate degree with dual majors in Chemistry and French Language which started me on a career in healthcare policy.
No it’s not too complicated
Maybe my post was too complicated for you
RE: It qualified her for a job as a a barista
I was thinking, had she actually started working as a barista for say, Starbucks after graduating high school, she would be in management right now without having to repay her college tuition.
Google Mastery of Puppetry.
And the kicker was you had to take three courses a semester in order to complete your PhD course work in two years.
Bowling was a popular PE credit. Luckily military service counted as my 2 required PEs.
I liked basketball best. Our teacher divided us into groups of five and we played full-court shirts and skins for an hour. And got college credit (one anyway) for it!
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