Spring is here! Spring is one of my favorite times at Colby. I love to see the trees blooming and the grass getting greener as the semester unfolds. As the weather gets warmer and you approach the end of the semester, you may be starting to think about what’s ahead. This article is for any of you that are trying to fill space in your schedule, fulfill distribution requirements, or discover new interests. Now that I have reached my final semester at Colby, I wanted to share some of my favorite classes that I have taken. Maybe they’ll inspire you to go out of your comfort zone and try something new!
ED 201 Education and Social Justice
As an education major I am definitely biased, but I think every student should take an education class before they graduate. This class has a really interesting civic engagement component that allows you to volunteer in a local classroom on a weekly basis (pandemic permitting). If you’re a CCAK mentor who wants to learn more about the local education system, I highly recommend this class, but I also think that it is very accessible for anyone who wants to investigate education through a lens of social justice. Bonus: this class fulfills the S and U requirements!
AM 298 Surveillance Culture
I took this class last spring for fun, and I can confidently say that it’s one of the classes that I’ve learned the most in during my time here at Colby. Not only do you learn about the technologies used to surveil us on a daily basis, but you also learn a lot about the disproportionate effects of surveillance and the implications it has for policing, education, and much more! Bonus: this class fulfills the U requirement!
Any Introductory Language Course
So I know that many of you might not consider yourselves to be “language people,” but hear me out. I came into Colby having already fulfilled the language requirement, but I decided to start a new language anyways. Sometimes starting on a clean slate is exactly what you need to feel engaged. My language of choice was Italian, but feel free to pick anything that stands out to you! It’s a great way to learn more about another culture, and if you’re lucky, there might be food involved somewhere along your language journey. Colby requires at least three semesters of language, so you might as well pick something you think you’ll enjoy!
PS 259 Lifespan Development OR PS 251 Personality Psychology
If you took Intro to Psych and felt it was hard, I totally get you. I am a psychology major, and I still think it was one of the hardest courses I’ve taken at Colby. However, by taking intro, you are able to take any psych elective that you want! These classes are smaller, lecture based classes that focus more specifically on one area of psychology. I personally loved learning about the way humans develop from birth all the way until death and about different personalities.
AR 257 Renaissance Art
I’m not going to lie, I took this class to fulfill my art requirement, but I want to put it on this list because it really got me thinking in ways that my other classes haven’t. In class we would analyze paintings, sculptures, and even household items from the period, and some of our projects included designing our own exhibits based on different themes. Even though it was hard for me at first, I really enjoyed integrating everything that I had learned in these projects.
As I prepare to leave Colby, I am so thankful for my liberal arts experience and each opportunity I have had to utilize different skills both in and out of the classroom. If nothing else, I hope that this article has inspired you to take a class or two that is out of your major and pushes you to discover new areas of study. Most importantly, savor the time you have, because four years flies by faster than you could ever imagine!