My Favorite Gen Eds at Penn State

Most colleges require students to complete a certain amount of credits for general education courses. The overall goal is to provide a curriculum that exposes students to content that will make them a well-rounded thinker after leaving college.

At Penn State, there is a wide range of topics that could be taken to complete these credits. Over the past three years, I have taken classes that have both catered to old interests and created news ones.

Below are some of my favorite gen ed courses at Penn State.

Astro 7n: Artistic universe

I feel like everyone talks about this class being an easy gen ed. I didn’t have a lot of complaints about the class and prefer to have at least one online class a semester (if possible, of course). 

Non-traditional teaching styles can be a nice break from lecture style classes. With this class being online, it was perfect for learning the content on my own time. Instead of reading modules, this class has a game made specifically to teach content. 

Each week had a requirement of finishing a part of the game along with a short quiz. Outside, there were art projects due every few weeks and a few exams.

Science is not my strong suit, but the content was not overly difficult. 

CAMS 45: Classical Myth

Counting as a humanities credit, this class is perfect for any student that loves Greek mythology and learning about it.

I took this course last spring semester and it was a 75 minute class two days a week. Outside of class work included reading modules and taking a weekly quiz on canvas. Students also had to complete two of four other assignments given throughout the semester.

It is a bigger lecture style class but most of the content is also covered in canvas modules. 

This class was one of my favorites because of my interest in Greek mythology and the outside of class work was just as interesting. 

HIST 21: Amer Civ from 1877

I took dual enrollment courses through Penn State during my senior year of high school. The Shenango branch campus was close to me so I was able to take classes on campus in the morning and then go back to my high school for the rest of the day.

This was one of my first experiences in a college class and it counted as a humanities credit. Although I can’t speak for this class at main campus, it was a good introduction to a heavier workload.

With a small class and a consistent schedule, this also worked for building a personal schedule for school work. There were exams for this class but they were close to the study guides and homework readings.

I have always liked history so this was a good way to start getting gen eds out of the way. However, there was a decent amount of work but I would recommend this for people that really like history.  

It can be difficult deciding which general education classes to take but, I have learned to take classes based on personal interests. If a topic seems interesting, it is likely that any work that has to be done won’t seem as bad.

Good luck!