After eight semesters of registering for classes, the well of exciting courses has started to run dry. In a world where other students can take courses on Harry Potter or Lady Gaga, I decided to search for some classes I wish I could have taken. Thanks to Online Universities’ article “100 Hilarious College Courses That Really Exist,” I was able to choose my dream list.
1. It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Alfred University offers this apocalyptic sociology course. The class examines a variety of Armageddon scenarios and why people are so obsessed with them. If a class can manage to discuss Y2K, the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012 and use an REM song as the title, I am sold.
2. Learning From YouTube
To be graded on my knowledge of YouTube videos is my ultimate fantasy. Pitzer College has realized my dream by offering this technology course. The class examines the culture of YouTube and requires students to use the website as a primary source of communication. Watching baby pandas sneeze and people fall off their bikes sounds like my idea of earning credits.
3. Lego Robotics
If MIT needed one more reason to be considered an amazing university, this is it. The course encourages students to step away from the direction sheet in the box and to think bigger. Students earn credit for building workable robots out of the little plastic bricks, putting any rocket ship you built in third grade to shame.
4. The Beatles
The course is titled “The Beatles” – need I say any more? Students at UCLA can learn everything they need to know about the band from Liverpool in this music course. From Ringo to “Eleanor Rigby,” the class offers the opportunity to gain rock-and-roll knowledge about one of the most influential bands of all time.
5. Underwater Basket Weaving
The mythical hobby is real. To offer more irony, the course is offered at Reed College. The art class teaches students the practice of basket weaving using reeds that have been soaked in water for hours. The class may be the butt of numerous jokes, but at least you could add the skill to your list of interests.
6. The Office: Awesome, Awkward and Addicting
Students at Oberlin Experimental College can analyze the characters, relationships and awkward moments of the popular show. How can you not enjoy a class that takes Michael Scott’s humor seriously?
Gina Dolski can be reached at grdolski@stthomas.edu.
Ooo, what a fun list! Lot’s of good choices in there. St. Thomas offers an honors seminar on HBO’s The Wire, which sounds like a fantastic course. (Plus, I’ve heard the professors aren’t bad either.) Oh, the discussions you could have. Until the Philosophy and Sociology departments join for a class on Lost, this might be the best UST has to offer.
My other addition to The List would be the recently announced “Master Class: Editing James Franco… with James Franco” at Columbia College Hollywood, because the only thing better than studying all things James Franco might be studying James Franco in a class taught by James Franco.
5. UBW is offered at Reed between the fall and spring semesters during the Paideia celebration. It’s a popular way to relax before hitting the books again. Sadly, no credit is offered, no way for future employers or grad schools to know of this important skill.
Just as an FYI, St. Thomas offered a course where you had to build a robot out of legos. It was a week long course that engineers had to take a while a go.
Now, we have the engineers working with more advanced robots instead.
This is probably the closest thing were ever going to see to an article that’s critical of UST on TommiMedia. The author might soon find himself locked inside the Ministry of Love’s room 101.