I’m graduating soon (what!?) and something I am going to miss with all my heart is picking out classes. I’m completely serious, it’s my favorite part of every quarter. I love looking through the course catalog and seeing what’s being offered. I think my brain perceives it as shopping or something.
So, before I go, I thought I should share all my tips and tricks for picking classes at SPU as well as my favorite classes and classes I recommend for this upcoming Spring.
Tips and Tricks
SPU’s general requirement classes can be a bit tricky to understand, so let’s start there.
What is the Common Curriculum?
- UCOL (University Colloquium)
Most of us have already taken this class. It’s a 1 credit required class that you take your first quarter in order to practice college skills and have a “Homeroom” type environment where you learn how to navigate the University.
- UCOR (University Core)
During your time at SPU you will take two UCOR classes, one focusing on history, UCOR 2000, and one focusing on philosophy, UCOR 3000. It’s recommended you take one your sophomore year and one your junior year.
- UFND (University Foundations)
These classes are the required Christian classes. UFND 1000 is basic knowledge about the Christian faith, UFND 2000 is where you study the Bible and scriptures, and UFND 3100 is where you discuss theology. Most people take these freshman, sophomore, and junior year. If you are a transfer student you don’t need to make all these up, instead you just take UFND 3001 for transfer students.
- Writing Classes
At SPU you are required to take two writing classes, WRI 1000, Academic Inquiry and Writing, and WRI 1100, Disciplinary Research and Writing Seminar. These are usually both taken freshman year. 1100 used to be themed by fun topics to research, for example mine focused on Frankenstein. However, now 1100 appears to be themed by certain fields, for example biology or art. Pay attention to the theme you are picking when you register for a WRI 1100 class!
What is the Exploratory Curriculum?
The exploratory classes are the “Ways of Knowing” and “Ways of Engaging” courses intended to ensure students have explored their options and have basic knowledge in major fields. The Ways of Knowing classes cover the humanities, quantitative reasoning, applied sciences, fundamental sciences, and social sciences. Ways of Engaging is just one class you choose from a list of interdisciplinary options.
Within the exploratory curriculum you need to take one quantitative reasoning course (math), and in order to know what class to take most people take a math placement test. Don’t wait until the last minute to do this, get it over with early!
In addition to the exploratory and common curriculum, all SPU students need to take at least 3 credits of Cultural, Understanding, and Engagement (CUE) and 8 credits of Writing Courses (W). This writing credit is different from the WRI 1000 and WRI 1100, you get this by taking courses that incorporate a lot of writing experience within the class. I naturally got both of these requirements covered by taking courses for my major, but if your major is not heavy in writing or cultural understanding, look out for these!
To find the classes you’ve taken and classes you still need, head to Degree Check. Get there by going to Banner > Student Menu > Academic Records Menu > Degree Check.
Look around there for general requirements, and then head to Major/Minor Requirements at the top to check for you guessed it, major and minor requirements.
My recommendation is to take 1-2 non-major classes each quarter for the first couple of years to make sure you get most of the general requirements out the way.
Personally I took one of the common curriculum classes (WRI, UCOR, UFND) a quarter and paired it with one class from the exploratory curriculum (Ways of Knowing and Engaging). Then you have one class left for a major you’re pursuing!
Also, don’t be afraid to take classes outside of your intended major. They help you fill learning gaps you didn’t know you had and/or you could always get a minor with them!
Emma’s Favorite Classes
Alrighty, now to the fun part! These are my absolute favorite top 10 classes at SPU. If you have a chance to take any of these, do it! I am double majoring in Communication and Social Justice & Cultural Studies, so most of these classes are in that realm!
CRIM 1110 – Intro to Criminal Justice
WRI 1100 – Disciplinary Research & Writing Seminar (Frankenstein Lit. themed)
WST 2350 – Intro to Women’s Studies
JRN 2255 – The Public and the Media*
ENG 3004 – Literature, Gender, and Sexuality
ENG 3334 – United States Multi-Ethnic Literature*
COM 3629 – Modern Rhetorical Theory
SOC 3650 – Border Crossings: Immigrants and Refugees
SOC 4210 – Gender in the Global Context
COM 4606 – Com Seminar: Com and Technology
*Offered Spring 2022!
Recommended Classes for Spring 2022
These are additional courses that look super interesting to me that are offered next quarter!
SOC 1110 – Intro to Sociology
PSY 1180 – General Psychology: Individual Growth
FLM 2002 – Movies and Cultural Politics in the 1960’s
ENG 2234 – Literature by Women
ANT 2250 – Cultural Anthropology
POL 2642 – Christianity and World Politics
PHY 3011 – Global Climate Change: Scientific, Social, and Moral Implications*
HSC 3035 – Human Sexuality
SOC 3205 – Sociology in Medicine: Inequality and Health
LCL 3287 – Mythology in Literature
ENG 3380 – African Literature
PSY 3445 – Psychology of Gender
HIS 3448 – Human Trafficking, Slavery, and Refugees: History of Forced Migration
HIS 3725 – Women and Gender in the Middle East
HIS 3790 – History of Africa
SOC 3862 – Race and Ethnicity*
HIS 3950 – African American History*
HIS 4765 – Topics in East Asian History
CRIM 4870 – Serial Killers and Psychopaths
*Classes I am planning on taking next quarter!
To look on your own, head to this open class list with all the courses available for Spring 2022! Or you can look up the degree requirements of your major and click on classes to see if they are available. I often did this to make sure I was getting all of the core classes I needed!
Some Additional Reminders
- Remember to always check for any prerequisites needed to take a certain class. Sometimes freshmen are excluded or another class is needed first.
- Professors make or break a class in my experience, make sure to look them up and see if they’ll be a good fit for you!
- If you are able to, pick up a minor or double major! This looks awesome on resumes and allows you to consume more knowledge during your time at college.
Good luck with picking classes! I manifest that each of you will take fulfilling classes full of knowledge, substance, and inspiration!