Every semester students at American University have to sit down and answer the all-important question: what classes should they take for the next semester? As you all know, that time is almost upon us. It’s time to pick our spring semester classes. AU offers many, many classes on a multitude of subjects, but deciding which ones to take can be tricky. While everyone has to complete their major requirements, students are often left to their own devices when choosing general education courses and electives. As a senior, I have spent the past three years perfecting the art of picking classes. After thinking about my own list of past classes and talking to friends in other majors I have come up with a top five list of classes to check out.
1. BIO 100 “Great Experiments in Biology”: When I first arrived at AU as a transfer sophomore year, I had not yet completed my science requirements and was not looking forward to doing them. It was not long before multiple people told me that BIO-100 was the way to go: a science class for people like me who did not enjoy science. I took the class last fall and it was worthwhile. We spent the class covering the basics of biology: cells, evolution, the animal kingdom, and a brief geological history of the earth. The class moved at a pace where it was always interesting but there were still many days to understand the material.
2. ANTH 250 “Human Origins”: I took this class as the non-lab portion of the science requirement. The class focuses on the social and cultural aspects of evolution and human history. One ongoing theme the class discussed was how much of the early anthropological work done on humans was done by white men and what impact this had. It was an interesting way to look at evolution, especially as a complement to BIO 100, which stressed the science part.
3. GOVT 321 “Congress and Legislative Behavior”: This class came at the recommendation of a friend who is a political science major. The course description on the registrar site says it focuses on “congressional behavior. Congress as an institution, and the role of congress in policymaking.” My friend explained he enjoyed the class because it offered him an interesting way of learning about congress, which is something he is already passionate about.
4. COMM 100 “Understanding Media”: This class came at the recommendation of another friend who is a communications major. The description of the registrar site says it covers “American media institutions: their development and social role; the economic and political constraints they face; and their effect on us as a society.” My friend said she found the class to be a very informative basis for many of her other communications classes. Also, the text book is very up-to-date and the material covers things all millennials already know, like Twitter, Facebook, advertising and mass media.
5. SIS 240 “International Development”: This was one of the more eye-opening classes I took while at AU. We discussed the long lasting effects of colonialism, neo-colonialism and many issues that face developing countries while trying to shake off their former colonizers. I found this class interesting because I had not often thought about how organizations like the IMF and World Bank can actually hurt developing countries despite being set up to help them. We discussed how aid from these organizations, while meant to help the people, many times ends up in the hands of corrupt government officials. We talked about the “bottom billion”: the idea that the vast majority of the world’s population lives in deep poverty with very little hope of ever getting out. This class opened my eyes to the notion that international relations goes way beyond just diplomacy and embassies.
Photo Credits: