Since many students at Ohio University are currently scheduling classes for next semester, or about to register for classes, OUr staff at HCOU wanted to share some of OUr favorite classes at OU and why they’re the best classes to take as an undergraduate.
Casey Funtal: One of my favorite classes that I have taken at OU has been Introduction to Organizational Communication. It is COMS 3500 taught by Dr. Yae-Wen Chen. I am a communication major, so this course is one of the branches of communication that I could get into. This class has taught me a lot about how organizations run and why they run the way that they do. The professor is also really nice. She makes sure that everyone is participating in the class discussions. Dr. Chen also gets to know the students personally then ties their interests into the topics that we are discussing in class. The information that we learn is relevant to our future employment. We talk about big companies like Google, Yahoo, and Starbucks. This class made me really think about the kind of company that I want to work for in the future. I never thought about the turnover rate at certain companies, but I am going to when searching for a full time position. Even if you are not a COMS major, if this course can fill an elective definitely take it.
Rachel O’Morrow: Although I am only a freshman, I would have to say my favorite class in JOUR 1050 – Intro to Mass Communication. There is a lot of reading but the class has a consistent schedule and if you do what is expected of you each week you will get a good grade in the class. The course content is interesting! Learning, for example, what exactly is behind the advertisements we see on a daily basis to the First Amendment and how free speech really is in America. The course also has a large amount of student participation and open discussions which can really help in understanding the course material.
Abby Gryzik: Communication Law, J3100, with Dr. Dashiell. Dr. D is my favorite professor I’ve ever had at Ohio University. She made me happy to come to class and always told great stories. Not your typical “lecture” class. She truly knows how to relate to her students.
Kirby Smith: Since I have been at OU, one of my favorite classes would have to be my Women in American History class. I liked it because it didn’t just go over famous women in our history, it went over the lives of everyday women. We talked about Native American women, women and witchcraft, women in slavery, women in the antebellum period, and women on the frontier. Being a woman myself made it very interesting! My professor was very knowledgeable too.
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Brooklynn Kramer: My favorite class was COMS 1010 with Dan West. He always started and ended the class with music, kept it real with students, and it’s what helped me become a Communication Studies major!
Meghan O’Dea: My favorite class as of now is human communications, COMS 1010, with Dan West. He’s such a funny and interesting teacher, and the class is so intriguing. We do really fun group work and he plays music before and after class!
Katie Coulter: Since I’m a freshman, I haven’t taken very many exciting classes at OU yet. Next semester, I’m taking RFPD 1110 which is a Fashion and Culture class that sounds super fun, and I’m excited to take it!
Bailey Collins: My favorite class is Woman and Writing with Hillary Glasby. She is passionate about feminism and the LGBTQ community which makes the class especially engaging.
Paige Bennett: It is really difficult to choose just one favorite class. I love the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies classes I’ve taken with Kim Little because they are interesting, thought-provoking, and fun. She is an awesome professor! I also loved Magazine Editing and Production with Ellen Gerl. In this class, I created my own magazine and learned more about the business side of journalism. This class taught me working knowledge of Adobe InDesign also, which is a helpful skill. Ellen is another one of my favorite professors. My current favorite is my Fundamentals of Online Journalism class with Bob Benz. We use the class to operate a live Athens-related news website called Court Street Stories. He is a wonderful professor and I love writing stories each week to update our class website.
Taylor Stano: Take Communication and New Technology with Dr. Tikkanen. Everything you learn in that class relates to how you communicate in today’s society. It’s engaging, fun and intriguing. (Luckily, it’s also one of the required classes for the social media certificate).
Allie Haddad: My favorite class at OU has been Young Adult Literature with Professor Ruggieri. It differs from your normal English class. The books are all from the Young Adult genre and are books that have been recently published and the class assignments aren’t focused on merely analyzing the book. You can be assigned anything from writing poetry that reflects certain aspects of the novel to making a playlist of songs a character would enjoy. Professor Ruggieri is also one of the nicest and most energetic teachers I’ve ever had! If you enjoy reading, I would definitely recommend taking this class. As we get closer and closer to the end of this semester, I’m sad I won’t be able to take it again.
Haley Rischar: History Before 1750 is my favorite class because I’m a huge history buff!
Amanda Schafer: Although I am a freshman in my first semester, I already have a favorite class here at Ohio University. Fundamentals of Volleyball is one of the best classes. It is a gym class, but specifically just for learning the skills and facts of volleyball. Once we got all the moves down, we would play competitively throughout the class of about 24 people (which was perfect for 4 teams). I had it at the end of the day which made it a good workout and stress reliever. There were short online quizzes once a week so it was not a hard workload by any means. I definitely recommend it!
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