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22 Fascinating and Bizarre Classes Offered This Semester
From the Sociology of Lady Gaga to the Joy of Garbage, here are some of the coolest and weirdest college courses being taught this fall.
1. Sociology of Fame and Lady Gaga
University of South Carolina
© Michael Travis/Corbis
No, you won’t get extra credit for wearing sirloin to class. As the syllabus warns, “This is not a course in Lady Gaga but in sociology; and it is not a course about Lady Gaga as much as about the culture of the fame as exemplified by the career of Lady Gaga. There will be no PowerPoint presentations in this class nor any music or videos.”
2. Wordplay: A Wry Plod from Babel to Scrabble
Princeton University
Obsessed with Words With Friends? If you’re at Princeton, you’ll almost certainly enjoy this class, where students will "challenge one another to games of Scrabble and Boggle, and enjoy the 'Princeton dimension' of the whole enterprise."
3. “Oh, Look, a Chicken!” Embracing Distraction as a Way of Knowing
Belmont University
Not only does it have an amazing name, “Oh, Look, a Chicken!” has the best course description I’ve ever read:
"Oh, look, a Chicken"....This course will pursue ways of knowing through embracing [little ants, carrying a morsel of food across the table] what it means to be a distracted [I could sure enjoy a peanut butter sandwich right now] learner as well as [OMG--I get to go to the beach this summer] developing an awareness [I need to trim my fingernails] of one's senses. The instructor teaches in the school of music, [do I hear water dripping?] so there will be an element related to that woven [spiders are amazing] into the course. [oh, it's the fish tank behind me] Those registering for this section may even learn to juggle [I'll be right down, I just have to finish this...what was I working on?].
4. Things That Go Bump in the Night
Hampshire College
Great course title, and fascinating topic. It looks at “experimental topics in the philosophy of mind,” including phantom limb phenomena, ambiguous figures and “split-brain syndrome,” when the two brain hemispheres seem to be occupied by two independent consciousnesses.
5. Theory and History of Video Games
Swarthmore
"Historical, cultural and formal perspectives on video games, tracing their emergence as new medium, big business, and social force.” If this means playing Halo and Mario Kart in class, I’m sure it’ll be a big hit. (It must be - registration for the class is already closed.)
6. Fly Fishing
Montana State
And if fly fishing doesn’t trip your trigger, you can also earn a credit for pocket billiards, bowling fundamentals, or Skiing, Snowboarding and Telemarking.
7. Physics for Future Presidents
UC Berkeley
Planning to fill Obama’s shoes one days? Then you better check out this course, which will make you well-versed in topics like spy satellites, medical imaging, nuclear weapons and energy conservation.
8. Zombies in Popular Media
Columbia College Chicago
Capitalizing on the current zombie trend? Maybe, but it still sounds like fun:
"This course explores the history, significance, and representation of the zombie as a figure in horror and fantasy texts. Instruction follows an intense schedule, using critical theory and source media (literature, comics, and films) to spur discussion and exploration of the figures many incarnations. Daily assignments focus on reflection and commentary, while final projects foster thoughtful connections between student disciplines and the figure of the zombie."
9. Cyborg Anthropology
Lewis & Clark College
Finally, you’ll know what Skynet knows. OK, not quite - it’s actually about “Cultural practices surrounding the production and consumption of technoscientific and biomedical knowledge,” but “Representation of science and technology in popular culture” all but guarantees a viewing of at least one of the Terminators.
10. Popular Flops: Bad Movies
Tufts
I have a feeling this seminar will be a blockbuster, even if they are looking at some of the biggest flops to grace the silver screen. Sounding equally interesting is “Are You There God? It’s Me, Gossip Girl.”
11. Philosophy and The Wire
Georgetown
Philosophy and Star Trek has been around for a while, but The Wire is a more recent addition to college courses inspired by the small screen. As in the Lady Gaga course, the college is careful to mention that the class isn’t actually about the show:
“The class is not about The Wire; instead, the class will use The Wire as an environment for philosophical work, a dramatic and shared vehicle for scratching beneath the surface of the everyday concept of responsibility to find questions we hadn’t thought to ask and to begin to answer them.”
12. Tightwaddery, or the Good Life on a Dollar a Day
Alfred University
Is it really possible to live on a buck a day? This honors seminar at Alfred doesn’t presume to say that you should be shopping at the 99 cent store, but rather asks the question that Socrates once asked: “What is the good life for a human being?”
13. Biology of Jurassic Park
Hood College
From the syllabus: “Even though they are extinct, dinosaurs can serve as models to understand many biological principles, including patterns of biodiversity, evolution, extinction, community ecology, homeostasis and behavior. To understand these principles, we will answer questions such as: How many species of dinosaurs were there? Are birds really dinosaurs? Did dinosaurs show parental care?"
The real question, I think, is whether velociraptors can be brought back to life and exhibited in an amusement park.
What would have happened to Woody and the Toy Story 3 gang if they hadn’t escaped that incinerator by the skin of their teeth? That’s what Santa Clara University wants you to know. Your unwanted junk is recycled, burned, reused, shipped abroad or dumped on minority communities.
15. Disney Feature: Then and Now
UCLA
“Evaluation of why Disney's animated features have dominated until recently and ramifications of this dominance on animation and society.” Do you suppose it includes field trips to nearby Disneyland or Disney Studios? I’m guessing not.
16. How to Watch Television
Montclair State
Has that big screen in your living room always perplexed you? Flummoxed by the little rectangle that seems to control its every image and sound? Sorry to say, this class isn’t going to help. Despite its title, “How to Watch Television” is really about analyzing the medium and evaluating TV’s impact on our lives.
17. Invented Languages: Klingon and Beyond
University of Texas at Austin
The class explores the Star Trek language and Esperanto, among others. I’m willing to bet there’s a bit of Elvish thrown in there, too.
18. The Phallus
Occidental College
I feel like this one speaks for itself, but just in case you need it spelled out for you, here’s an excerpt from the syllabus: Topics include the signification of the phallus, the relation of the phallus to masculinity, femininity, genital organs and the fetish, the whiteness of the phallus, and the lesbian phallus.
19. The Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur
University of Washington
Though Tupac has been gone for nearly 15 years, he lives on at U-Dub. The course “explores the philosophical, historical and literary influences of the late rapper and activist, Tupac Shakur.”
20. The American Vacation
University of Iowa
Sounds like a breezy look at the Hamptons, Disneyland and Route 66, doesn’t it? Not quite. Students will focus on “Social history of vacations; cultural significance of contemporary patterns; [and] how experiences and meanings are shaped by race, class, gender.”
21. California Culture
San Francisco State
Are California Gurls really undeniable? You probably won’t find confirmation of Katy Perry’s lyrics in this course. It’s more about the state as a “flawed paradise” and addresses the Golden State’s function in Pacific relations. You'll also examine the “dynamics of California society and culture in recent times.”
22. Goldberg’s Canon: Makin’ Whoopi
Bates College
If you’ve been dying to take this class since we first mentioned it a few years ago, your time has finally come: Makin’ Whoopi is back at Bates this semester.
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Does your school offer anything that should have made the list? Let us hear it in the comments!