As someone who pours over the course catalog once it comes out for the next semester, I wanted to share some insight on some must-take classes at Bucknell. As an English Film/Media Studies and Psychology double major with a Spanish minor, I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunities and flexibility to take so many wonderful classes with fabulous professors both in and out of my majors and minor in my three and a half years here thus far. There are quite a few common core curriculum (CCC) requirements that we must take that can be filled with major or minor courses as well, but I personally have found that using those CCC requirements to take other classes you’re interested in can be super fulfilling as well! While my recommendations of courses are going to be skewed to my liking, I think people with various interests will find the classes I suggest to be fascinating anyway.
While writing this article, I have broken down all the courses I’ve taken here by grade and semester and compiled a list of my personal favorites. Here are the ones that have made it to the top: Cinema and the City, Buddhism, Studies in Shakespeare, Anxiety: Clinical and Cultural, Shakespeare and Film, Light and Vision, Spanish Cultural Tradition, Border Cinema, Social Psychology, Screenwriting, Jazz 2, Psychology of Beauty and Attraction, and Environmentalism and its Discontents. Yes, I know it’s a lot of classes that have made it to my favorites list, but that is because I have been so fortunate to take all of these classes and thoroughly enjoy all of them. There have been few and far between that I have not liked.
Cinema and the City was a foundation seminar with Professor Bastian Heinsohn. It dealt with film studies but does not count for the major at all. This was a great introduction to the Film and Media Studies department here as well as being a part of the Languages and Cultures Residential College, which I couldn’t recommend more! I had class with people on my hall and our common hour was always so interesting when discussing the different classes in our Res College and what we were all learning about. Buddhism is another course I am so glad I took. It fulfilled a CCC requirement for me but not any major/minor requirements. I’ve written a bit about this course in another one of my articles, but it dove into everything about Buddhism and really changed my outlook on life. Anxiety: Clinical and Cultural was my integrated perspectives course that was co-taught by Allen Tran and Anna Baker in the Anthropology and Psychology departments, respectively. This class quite literally made me decide to move Psychology from a minor to a major. I learned so much about anxiety and how different cultures talk about and deal with it, which was incredibly eye-opening.
Light and Vision is another one that could be surprising to some for being on the list, but I felt obligated to include it. I really enjoyed this class, despite it being my lab science. It overlapped with Film Studies and Psychology in certain aspects, which I loved. Now I also know why the sky turns different colors at sunrise and sunset, so that’s pretty cool! Jazz 2 and Environmentalism and its Discontents are the last two classes included in my list of favs that are not a part of my majors or minor but I love anyway. If you’re a dancer, I would highly recommend taking a dance class at least once during your time here. Jazz 2 has taught me more about life and myself than probably any other course I’ve taken thus far, and for that, I will be eternally grateful. Shoutout to Professor Dustyn Martincich in the Theatre and Dance Department! I also recently wrote about my Environmentalism and its Discontents class with Professor Ted Hamilton that has made me more in touch with nature and the earth all around me.
Overall, I would say to take classes that sound interesting to you, and I can guarantee that you will learn some special things. Even taking something that you might not think will be a good fit for you might end up being one of your favorite classes! Definitely get out of your comfort zone and try new things when it comes to course registration. College is all about learning, and personally, I think it’s one of the greatest things ever! It is also all about perspective, and even in the classes you don’t end up loving, you can gain something useful out of them which will make you a better student and person, and I think that’s amazing.