During course registration season, we quite often find ourselves in the same dilemma: our first choice courses are snatched up by luckier students, required classes are quickly filled, and favorite professors are on leave. If your emails go unanswered, here are eight classes you might consider as an unexpected addition.
- ASIA x RELI – 185-01: The Bhagavad Gītā – Nell Hawley
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Acclaimed for classes like American Gurus and A Twisted History, Professor Hawley is teaching a course about the Gītā, a two-thousand year old song-meets-story that is essential to Hindu traditions around the world.
- DRAM x MUSI 126-01: Our Bodies/Our Selves – Drew Minter
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This class, last year held on the beautiful Skinner stage, is an interesting half-credit for people who want to focus more attention on how their body moves. A mix between micro-yoga and physiology, this class is a breath of fresh air on a busy day.
- PHIL 284-01: Philosophy of AI – Kathryn Pendoley
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AI permeates our work, our social media, and our art. It has become an integral beast to face while navigating through daily life. This class engages the question of if and how AI can be made to understand and adhere to human values.
- RUSS 168-01: Vampires, Monks & Holy Fools – Charles Arndt
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If you are a lover of vampire novels, supernatural TV, or old legends, this is the class for you. Though the word “monk” is in the title, fret not, for this class delves into the scandalous and provocative nature of these stories, and why we find them so attractive.
- ASIA x MEDS x WFQS 381-01: Boys Love Media – Jeffery Schneider
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Looking at an array of texts from manga, anime, novels, zines, and online fan fiction, this course traverses the genre “Boys Love,” which was born in the 1970s for female viewers. This course holds a treasure trove of information on female erotics, feminism, and queer identities, all told through this global phenomenon.
- AFRS-210-01: Afrofuturism – Tamyka Jordon-Conlin
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Always wondered if there was a different future in store than the boring and cold one we see in sci-fi films? Afrofuturists explore the future through a lens inspired by African tradition, folklore, and influenced by people across the African diaspora.
- PSYC 221-01: Learning & Behavior – Kevin Holloway
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Taught by an energetic professor, often clad in Mickey Mouse shirts and seen throwing eraser prizes at his students (and even more often missing them), this psych course is unexpectedly lively and explains how we can train dogs, birds, and even our friends.
- FILM 209-02: World Cinema – Katherine Model
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If you can face the weekly movie screenings, this class showcases need-to-watches from around the world, from Citizen Kane to Italian classics. This is the class you always knew you needed to properly engage in pretentious conversation.