While we here at Bryant University are registering for courses such as Actuarial Statistics, Business Policy, and Mass Communication, students at Skidmore College have a whole new kind of class available to them this summer. The liberal arts college Saratoga Springs, New York, is offering a course entitled “The Sociology of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender and Media.” The professor who will be teaching the course, Carolyn Chernoff, said that the course will focus on role of race and gender in pop culture. It will also examine the media’s reaction and influence in Miley’s career and pop culture in general.
In honor of this new Miley- related class, Her Campus has compiled a list of some truly unique college courses across the country:
1. “Politicizing Beyoncé” at Rutgers University. Similar to the class on Miley, this course looks at race, gender, and sexuality in American culture. And what better way to do so than studying the perfection that is Queen B!
2. “Elvish” at University of Wisconsin. Yes, Elvish as in the language spoken in the Lord of the Rings series. Once can only hope that you’ll run into Orlando Bloom some day and amaze him with your knowledge of his LOTR character’s native tongue.
3. “Street Fighting Mathematics” at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Who knew that there were mathematics to go along with street fighting?! Apparently MIT has calculated the best way to win a fight.
4. “Battling Against Voldemort” at Swarthmore College. This course seems to be a muggle’s version of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Worried about your upcoming fight against The Dark Lord? Swarthmore has you covered!
5. “Introduction to Wines” at Cornell University. Sounds like the perfect course for any collegiette! This course would certainly make our trips to the liquor store much simpler. It would also be nice to be the renowned wine expert amongst your friends!
6. “Underwater Basket Weaving” at Reed College. We aren’t really sure how this course would be structured- is the final held in a lake? Do the professors have to be extremely skilled at holding their breath? Sounds like the perfect course for water nymphs, mermaids, and Percy Jackson.
7. “Zombies in Popular Media” at Columbia College Chicago. Hopefully the class will give out some good tips on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. Seriously though, what’s a girl gotta do to outlive the undead?
8. “The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion” at Moorpark College. And here we were thinking our Hogwarts acceptance letters got lost in the mail! Apparently our education of witchcraft and wizardry has been waiting for us at Moorpark College all along!
9. “Tree Climbing” at Cornell University. An entire semester spent learning about the art of climbing trees? Why not! Time to bring out that inner child.
10. “The Amazing World of Bubbles” at Cal-Tech. What’s better than bubbles? Absolutely nothing! Who doesn’t want to become an expert bubble blower, because we at Her Campus sure to!
Although we aren’t sure which careers and majors most of these courses are supposed to help you with, they definitely sound like a good time! It must be nice to take a break from practical classes and take something out of the ordinary. Perhaps it’s time we start a petition asking Prez for some unusual courses. How about, “The Life and Times of Channing Tatum”, or “How to Survive the Hunger Games 101.” Time to put our tuition to good use!