Switch Theme:

20 Completely Ridiculous College Courses Being Offered At U.S. Universities  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






I fear for the country future and to some who actually paid for the courses....

1. "What If Harry Potter Is Real?" (Appalachian State University) - This course will engage students with questions about the very nature of history. Who decides what history is? Who decides how it is used or mis-used? How does this use or misuse affect us? How can the historical imagination inform literature and fantasy? How can fantasy reshape how we look at history? The Harry Potter novels and films are fertile ground for exploring all of these deeper questions. By looking at the actual geography of the novels, real and imagined historical events portrayed in the novels, the reactions of scholars in all the social sciences to the novels, and the world-wide frenzy inspired by them, students will examine issues of race, class, gender, time, place, the uses of space and movement, the role of multiculturalism in history as well as how to read a novel and how to read scholarly essays to get the most out of them.


J.K Rowling has to be getting a cut from this course every semester..

2. "God, Sex, Chocolate: Desire and the Spiritual Path" (UC San Diego) - Who shapes our desire? Who suffers for it? Do we control our desire or does desire control us? When we yield to desire, do we become more fully ourselves or must we deny it to find an authentic identity beneath? How have religious & philosophical approaches dealt with the problem of desire?


Bacchus........Bacchus....

3. "GaGa for Gaga: Sex, Gender, and Identity" (The University Of Virginia) - In Graduate Arts & Sciences student Christa Romanosky's ongoing ENWR 1510 class, "GaGa for Gaga: Sex, Gender, and Identity," students analyze how the musician pushes social boundaries with her work. For this introductory course to argumentative essay writing, Romanosky chose the Lady Gaga theme to establish an engaging framework for critical analysis.





4. "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" (The University Of South Carolina) - Lady Gaga may not have much class but now there is a class on her. The University of South Carolina is offering a class called Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame. Mathieu Deflem, the professor teaching the course describes it as aiming to “unravel some of the sociologically relevant dimensions of the fame of Lady Gaga with respect to her music, videos, fashion, and other artistic endeavours.”


Refer to 3.

"Philosophy And Star Trek" (Georgetown) - Star Trek is very philosophical. What better way, then, to learn philosophy, than to watch Star Trek, read philosophy, and hash it all out in class? That's the plan. This course is basically an introduction to certain topics in metaphysics and epistemology philosophy, centered around major philosophical questions that come up again and again in Star Trek. In conjunction with watching Star Trek, we will read excerpts from the writings of great philosophers, extract key concepts and arguments and then analyze those arguments.






6. "Invented Languages: Klingon and Beyond" (The University Of Texas) - Why would anyone want to learn Klingon? Who really speaks Esperanto, anyway? Could there ever be a language based entirely on musical scales? Using constructed/invented languages as a vehicle, we will try to answer these questions as we discuss current ideas about linguistic theory, especially ideas surrounding the interaction of language and society. For example, what is it about the structure of Klingon that makes it look so "alien"? What was it about early 20th century Europe that spawned so many so-called "universal" languages? Can a language be inherently sexist? We will consider constructed/invented languages from a variety of viewpoints, such as languages created as fictional plot-devices, for philosophical debates, to serve an international function, and languages created for private fun. We won't be learning any one language specifically, but we will be learning about the art, ideas, and goals behind invented languages using diverse sources from literature, the internet, films, video games, and other aspects of popular culture.





7. "The Science Of Superheroes" (UC Irvine) - Have you ever wondered if Superman could really bend steel bars? Would a “gamma ray” accident turn you into the Hulk? What is a “spidey-sense”? And just who did think of all these superheroes and their powers? In this seminar, we discuss the science (or lack of science) behind many of the most famous superheroes. Even more amazing, we will discuss what kind of superheroes might be imagined using our current scientific understanding.


Batman will not be covered..

8. "Learning From YouTube" (Pitzer College) - About 35 students meet in a classroom but work mostly online, where they view YouTube content and post their comments. Class lessons also are posted and students are encouraged to post videos. One class member, for instance, posted a 1:36-minute video of himself juggling.




9. "Arguing with Judge Judy" (UC Berkeley) - TV "Judge" shows have become extremely popular in the last 3-5 years. A fascinating aspect of these shows from a rhetorical point of view is the number of arguments made by the litigants that are utterly illogical, or perversions of standard logic, and yet are used over and over again. For example, when asked "Did you hit the plaintiff?" respondents often say, "If I woulda hit him, he'd be dead!" This reply avoids answering "yes" or "no" by presenting a perverted form of the logical strategy called "a fortiori" argument ["from the stronger"] in Latin. The seminar will be concerned with identifying such apparently popular logical fallacies on "Judge Judy" and "The People's Court" and discussing why such strategies are so widespread. It is NOT a course about law or "legal reasoning." Students who are interested in logic, argument, TV, and American popular culture will probably be interested in this course. I emphasize that it is NOT about the application of law or the operations of the court system in general.




10. "Elvis As Anthology" (The University Of Iowa) - The class, “Elvis as Anthology,” focuses on Presley’s relationship to African American history, social change, and aesthetics. It focuses not just on Elvis, but on other artists who inspired him and whom he inspired.






11. "The Feminist Critique Of Christianity" (The University Of Pennsylvania) - An overview of the past decades of feminist scholarship about Christian and post-Christian historians and theologians who offer a feminist perspective on traditional Christian theology and practice. This course is a critical overview of this material, presented with a summary of Christian biblical studies, history and theology, and with a special interest in constructive attempts at creating a spiritual tradition with women's experience at the center.


Alrighty then...

12. "Zombies In Popular Media" (Columbia College) - This course explores the history, significance, and representation of the zombie as a figure in horror and fantasy texts. Instruction follows an intense schedule, using critical theory and source media (literature, comics, and films) to spur discussion and exploration of the figure's many incarnations. Daily assignments focus on reflection and commentary, while final projects foster thoughtful connections between student disciplines and the figure of the zombie.





13. "Far Side Entomology" (Oregon State) - For the last 20 years, a scientist at Oregon State University has used Gary Larson's cartoons as a teaching tool. The result has been a generation of students learning — and laughing — about insects.


Its Far side...I doubt I would sleep in this class...

14. "Interrogating Gender: Centuries of Dramatic Cross-Dressing" (Swarthmore) - Do clothes make the man? Or the woman? Do men make better women? Or women better men? Is gender a costume we put on and take off? Are we really all always in drag? Does gender-bending lead to transcendence or chaos? These questions and their ramifications for liminalities of race, nationality and sexuality will be our focus in a course that examines dramatic works from The Bacchae to M. Butterfly.




15. "Oh, Look, a Chicken!" Embracing Distraction as a Way of Knowing (Belmont University) - Students must write papers using their personal research on the five senses. Entsminger reads aloud illustrated books The Simple People and Toby’s Toe to teach lessons about what to value by being alive. Students listen to music while doodling in class. Another project requires students to put themselves in situations where they will be distracted and write a reflection tracking how they got back to their original intent.


Um...eh...what...huh..what..
Spoiler:



16. "The Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur" (University of Washington) - The UW is not the first college with a class dedicated to Shakur -- classes on the rapper have been offered at the University of California Berkeley and Harvard -- but it is the first to relate Shakur's work to literature.




Voice of an entire sub culture
Hologram

17. "Cyberporn And Society" (State University of New York at Buffalo) - With classwork like this, who needs to play? Undergraduates taking Cyberporn and Society at the State University of New York at Buffalo survey Internet porn sites.




18. "Sport For The Spectator" (The Ohio State University) - Develop an appreciation of sport as a spectacle, social event, recreational pursuit, business, and entertainment. Develop the ability to identify issues that affect the sport and spectator behavior.


All about the smack talk

19. "Getting Dressed" (Princeton) - Jenna Weissman Joselit looks over the roomful of freshmen in front of her and asks them to perform a warm-up exercise: Chart the major moments of your lives through clothes. "If you pop open your closet, can you recall your lives?" she posits on the first day of the freshman seminar "Getting Dressed."


This needs to be in high school.

20. "How To Watch Television" (Montclair) - This course, open to both broadcasting majors and non-majors, is about analyzing television in the ways and to the extent to which it needs to be understood by its audience. The aim is for students to critically evaluate the role and impact of television in their lives as well as in the life of the culture. The means to achieve this aim is an approach that combines media theory and criticism with media education.


"Mother Nature is a serial killer."

Proud Member of the Infidels of OIF/OEF
No longer defending the US Military or US Gov't. Just going to ""**feed into your fears**"" with Duffel Blog
Did not fight my way up on top the food chain to become a Vegan...
Warning: Stupid Allergy
Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend
DE 6700
Harlequin 2500
RIP Muhammad Ali.

Jihadin, Scorched Earth 791. Leader of the Pork Eating Crusader. Alpha


 
   
Made in ca
Mekboy on Kustom Deth Kopta




You need some classes that even the football players can pass

 
   
Made in ca
Fixture of Dakka




Kamloops, BC

At least I'll have comfort in knowing that most of those courses are even more useless than FILM 2200 Introduction to Film Studies 1938 - Present (but boy is it a fun course to have).

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/02 01:27:32


 
   
Made in de
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience






Nuremberg

I used to teach the science of superheroes at a centre for gifted youths!
It was a bit of a pisstake but it was a lot of fun.

Although I would argue studying the effects of pornography on society is worthwhile.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/02 01:40:47


   
Made in us
Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

Many of those classes actually sound interesting. If anything, the weird part is what they're called, not necessarily the subject matter.

   
Made in us
Blood Angel Captain Wracked with Visions






Well, with courses like that on a resume how could you not be employable

 
   
Made in us
Hangin' with Gork & Mork






 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Well, with courses like that on a resume how could you not be employable


I've never seen a resume that listed individual courses, just degree and extra curricular activities.

Most of these are fairly standard classes, but using somewhat sexed up titles to get students to take them. They are also venus flytraps that lure unsuspecting students into classes assuming they will be a blow off class and end up finding out they are anything but. Perhaps calling them Trojan Horse classes would be more appropriate as "The Philosophy of Star Trek" is really just an "Intro to Philosophy (or Intermediate) using examples you have seen on TV as springboards instead of only (because you will still be reading the source material like Kant) using older texts". The instructors most often will try to have fun, but they aren't fething around either and usually take it seriously.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/02 02:58:48


Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
 
   
Made in gb
Renegade Inquisitor de Marche






Elephant Graveyard

 LordofHats wrote:
Many of those classes actually sound interesting. If anything, the weird part is what they're called, not necessarily the subject matter.

Some of them are basically sociology or film studies stuff...
Though some of them are kinda odd.

Dakka Bingo! By Ouze
"You are the best at flying things"-Kanluwen
"Further proof that Purple is a fething brilliant super villain " -KingCracker
"Purp.. Im pretty sure I have a gun than can reach you...."-Nicorex
"That's not really an apocalypse. That's just Europe."-Grakmar
"almost as good as winning free cake at the tea drinking contest for an Englishman." -Reds8n
Seal up your lips and give no words but mum.
Equip, Reload. Do violence.
Watch for Gerry. 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






LoH

My wife took number 11. She said that class was no joke at all

Proud Member of the Infidels of OIF/OEF
No longer defending the US Military or US Gov't. Just going to ""**feed into your fears**"" with Duffel Blog
Did not fight my way up on top the food chain to become a Vegan...
Warning: Stupid Allergy
Once you pull the pin, Mr. Grenade is no longer your friend
DE 6700
Harlequin 2500
RIP Muhammad Ali.

Jihadin, Scorched Earth 791. Leader of the Pork Eating Crusader. Alpha


 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
The Main Man






Beast Coast

At least half of those actually sound like they have the potential to be really good courses. This looks like a list tailor-made to outrage people who don't have any experience or understanding of a field and already have an axe to grind against college education. Someone who would say something like, "Klingon?! You mean college kids these days are taking classes on that crazy space show? Why don't they get some education about something real like coal mining or plumbing?!"


I'm not knocking coal mining or plumbing at all, both are needed professions that pay well, but if you are trying to be a linguist and are studying linguistics, there are some very useful, valid reasons for taking a course on constructed languages, which includes things like Esperanto and yes, even Klingon.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/02 03:29:53


   
Made in us
Member of the Ethereal Council






The one about fake Languages sounds pretty interesting. How a language from a TV show can evolve into one that i in essence real. Like Klingon
And alot of study of media is good, media is part of our life, we change it, it changes us.

5000pts 6000pts 3000pts
 
   
Made in gb
Wrathful Warlord Titan Commander





Ramsden Heath, Essex

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
The one about fake Languages sounds pretty interesting. How a language from a TV show can evolve into one that i in essence real. Like Klingon
And alot of study of media is good, media is part of our life, we change it, it changes us.


Yeah, like French which was made up in 1994 to give the film "Le Femme Nikita" more gravitas. Appearantly "Hot Chick kills stuff" wasn't the same.

Want to know more....?

The sign up to my new "BSing about the late 20th Century" class at Anglia Ruskin Poly. Should be more challenging than Media Studies anyway!

How do you promote your Hobby? - Legoburner "I run some crappy wargaming website " 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




I don't see anything wrong with most of those courses. They just have outlandish names to attract more students. What is wrong with that exactly? Honestly, if things like Star Trek serve as a gateway into philosophy that's a good thing. It's probably much more accessible to most than archaic or verbose texts.

The only way we can ever solve anything is to look in the mirror and find no enemy 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
The Main Man






Beast Coast

To be fair, I wouldn't consider constructed languages to be "fake" languages. There's a significant Klingon community, and for more serious constructed languages like Esperanto, there are even a handful of people who speak it as their first language, and up to a couple million who speak it as a non-native language.

   
Made in us
Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

You could teach an entire years worth of classes about Tolkein's in universe languages alone.

   
Made in us
Androgynous Daemon Prince of Slaanesh





Norwalk, Connecticut

I used Warhammer models to teach Greek mythology once. To sixth graders though. Everything can be used as a teaching tool, but a line has to be drawn for each topic. Harry Potter history...not for college. Even the idiot football jocks shouldn't be subjected to that. Star Trek philosophy is a worthy college course though, as you can get incredibly in-depth in the subject matter. I think the porn one should be taught to high school juniors.

Reality is a nice place to visit, but I'd hate to live there.

Manchu wrote:I'm a Catholic. We eat our God.


Due to work, I can usually only ship any sales or trades out on Saturday morning. Please trade/purchase with this in mind.  
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

Is it bad that I'd happily do the Star Trek or Languages one?

 
   
Made in gb
Oberstleutnant





Back in the English morass

 LordofHats wrote:
Many of those classes actually sound interesting. If anything, the weird part is what they're called, not necessarily the subject matter.


Some of them are largely pointless but some of them sound interesting from an academic persepective and some of them could even have economic applications, not least the porn one.

Who would take these courses? (I'm not really sure what US college classes actually are and where they fit within a wider academic framework).

RegalPhantom wrote:
If your fluff doesn't fit, change your fluff until it does
The prefect example of someone missing the point.
Do not underestimate the Squats. They survived for millenia cut off from the Imperium and assailed on all sides. Their determination and resilience is an example to us all.
-Leman Russ, Meditations on Imperial Command book XVI (AKA the RT era White Dwarf Commpendium).
Its just a shame that they couldn't fight off Andy Chambers.
Warzone Plog 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
The Main Man






Beast Coast

Most of them would probably fulfill an elective requirement, and some of them might fulfill lower departmental requirements for a major or minor.

   
Made in fr
Hallowed Canoness





 Ahtman wrote:
Most of these are fairly standard classes, but using somewhat sexed up titles to get students to take them.

Yep. Pretty much like how a friend of mine had an assignment to write an interpreter for a programming language in Tolkien's Elvish tongue. Learning skills by writing an interpreter for a custom language was the useful part, having the language be in Elvish was the fun part. Apparently the teacher even came dressed as an elf, with a tiara and a cape ! Though apparently she really had not at all the right physique for an elf .
 notprop wrote:
Yeah, like French which was made up in 1994 to give the film "Le Femme Nikita" more gravitas.

La femme Nikita.
This name sounds ridiculous in French.

"Our fantasy settings are grim and dark, but that is not a reflection of who we are or how we feel the real world should be. [...] We will continue to diversify the cast of characters we portray [...] so everyone can find representation and heroes they can relate to. [...] If [you don't feel the same way], you will not be missed"
https://twitter.com/WarComTeam/status/1268665798467432449/photo/1 
   
Made in us
Battlefield Tourist




MN (Currently in WY)

 LordofHats wrote:
Many of those classes actually sound interesting. If anything, the weird part is what they're called, not necessarily the subject matter.


Agreed. The names are just to get some students involved in interesting subjects.

The only wierd one is the "Look a Chicken". That one I did not understand.

Support Blood and Spectacles Publishing:
https://www.patreon.com/Bloodandspectaclespublishing 
   
Made in us
Confessor Of Sins




WA, USA

I don't see the cause for outrage in any of this. I gotta echo that this list just sounds like someone read the titles, did not bother to read the rest and decided to grind their axe against college education.

Hell, a lot of these classes sound downright fascinating. A course on constructed languages? Heck yes! We do not have that kind of thing anymore, and understanding how a language is built from scratch sounds amazing.

Seriously, what is the reason for all the facepalms? Or is this just some stupid bit of manufactured outrage?

 Ouze wrote:

Afterward, Curran killed a guy in the parking lot with a trident.
 
   
Made in us
Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

 Easy E wrote:
Agreed. The names are just to get some students involved in interesting subjects.

The only wierd one is the "Look a Chicken". That one I did not understand.


Yeah. Also consider that just being a college professor doesn't mean you get to teach what you want to teach. I knew a guy who really, really, wanted to teach a course of Feudal Russia, but he didn't get to for years because the school wouldn't approve the course. If no one takes a course, it will be cut and replaced. Creative naming can really help draw a student's attention and help a professor continue to teach what they want to teach.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/03 16:41:47


   
Made in gb
Avatar of the Bloody-Handed God






Inside your mind, corrupting the pathways

The good thing about a lot of courses with low resourcing requirements is they help pay for things like science and engineering where you can burn through money like crazy.

   
Made in us
Master Tormentor





St. Louis

 timetowaste85 wrote:
I used Warhammer models to teach Greek mythology once. To sixth graders though. Everything can be used as a teaching tool, but a line has to be drawn for each topic. Harry Potter history...not for college.

Why not? It sounds like it would to a great job of getting students to look more critically at the why of history, instead of just viewing it as a collection of facts to be memorized. The porn one looks like a pretty good alternative to Human Sexuality with a bit of other Sociology courses thrown in for good measure.

Heck, all of these look like pretty good courses. My ex actually is taking the Zombies course (or something nearly identical) at the moment, and by the readings and material I saw it did a great job of introducing students to the genre in ways that wouldn't stand out to your average layman (Herbert West, Reanimator and The Fall of the House of Usher, as well as several other Poe stories), along with a comparison to modern works from Romero's body of work and Brooks' World War Z. There's a ton you can do with zombies, really, especially given the depth of most films and books in the genre.
   
Made in ca
Shas'ui with Bonding Knife





Toronto, Canada

19. Getting Dressed

This one sounds kind of interesting actually. The way you have dressed throughout the years says a lot about a person.

However, this is something that should be thought about when you are bored and have nothing better to do.... doing this in university for credits is quite useless.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/03 17:26:11


   
Made in us
Shas'la with Pulse Carbine





Across the Great Divide

And where is my course on underwater basket weaving?? Where I say?


All in all philosophy and star trek sounds amazing as do a fair number of the others as well.

Forest hunter sept ~3500
guardians of the covenant 4th company ~ 6000
Warrior based hive fleet

DA:90S+G++M++B--I+PW40k07+D++A++/areWD-R++T(T)DM+ 
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut






New Orleans, LA

Colleges need to teach us what we need to survive!

How to get a job with a Liberal Arts degree!

I have a Math degree! How do I make myself interesting to chicks?

How to stalk exes on Facebook on company time!

DA:70S+G+M+B++I++Pw40k08+D++A++/fWD-R+T(M)DM+
 
   
Made in gb
Highlord with a Blackstone Fortress






Adrift within the vortex of my imagination.

Some of the course are awful, others have a logic to them.

Also bear in mind many of them are vocative modules in modular degrees. It is not improper to take a modular degree of ten so so electives and include one or two 'social' ones, including things like film appreciation etc. RThey help round out degree courses sometimes.

Anyway I wont go into the truly bad ones, I have heard several just as bad including degree courses in the Sex Pistols. But I will attempt to defend some:


6. "Invented Languages: Klingon and Beyond" (The University Of Texas) - Why would anyone want to learn Klingon? Who really speaks Esperanto, anyway? Could there ever be a language based entirely on musical scales? Using constructed/invented languages as a vehicle, we will try to answer these questions as we discuss current ideas about linguistic theory, especially ideas surrounding the interaction of language and society. For example, what is it about the structure of Klingon that makes it look so "alien"? What was it about early 20th century Europe that spawned so many so-called "universal" languages? Can a language be inherently sexist? We will consider constructed/invented languages from a variety of viewpoints, such as languages created as fictional plot-devices, for philosophical debates, to serve an international function, and languages created for private fun. We won't be learning any one language specifically, but we will be learning about the art, ideas, and goals behind invented languages using diverse sources from literature, the internet, films, video games, and other aspects of popular culture.


Some of the other courses like the Harry Potter and the Star Trek philosophy have merit but focus too much on the example and not the teaching. At least this isnt specifically a study in Klingon but in invented languages.
I can see practical uses for this in language invention - which is a valid career aid albeit a bit focused..
It also has tie ins with Esperanto and orther attempts to make an artificial common language



8. "Learning From YouTube" (Pitzer College) - About 35 students meet in a classroom but work mostly online, where they view YouTube content and post their comments. Class lessons also are posted and students are encouraged to post videos. One class member, for instance, posted a 1:36-minute video of himself juggling.


Valid. There is much to learn about human society from YouTube and I presume similar sites, posting a your own videos and critiquing them in class is also valid teaching aid. The trick here is not is this video cool or not but to teach the students what they may be revealing about themselves or the video creation process with access to the source in class. It's a lesson in social observation and is genuinely useful.
For example the video of the juggler, the students might not be told to ask how well he is juggling but by watching the video ascertain where the juggler is, roughly when was the video shot, how affluent was the person, educated, happy. All these videos are windows on the modern world. Its a bit like reading Juvenal and his essays on daily life in Rome, today we glean a lot from the slightest info, because we aren't there. Modern media now imprints our culture and stores it for the future, and the more common and self sources the source material the closer to the truth it is.
Historians in the next century will learn more about our actual lives from watching YouTube clips than by watching old newscasts and documentaries, YouTube (and similar) isn't close to the source, it is the raw source.
Valid topic.



11. "The Feminist Critique Of Christianity" (The University Of Pennsylvania) - An overview of the past decades of feminist scholarship about Christian and post-Christian historians and theologians who offer a feminist perspective on traditional Christian theology and practice. This course is a critical overview of this material, presented with a summary of Christian biblical studies, history and theology, and with a special interest in constructive attempts at creating a spiritual tradition with women's experience at the center.


No problem with this whatsoever. Religion is usually taken from a male perspective, how 51% of the population are effected by major religion is very valid course of study. I am not saying this with any bias, you could add atheism or Islam etc etc and the validity would remain.
It would be very suprising if religion has not been a major elective topic in degrees in Womens Studies, and yes there are mainstream degrees in Womens Studies with good reason.


14. "Interrogating Gender: Centuries of Dramatic Cross-Dressing" (Swarthmore) - Do clothes make the man? Or the woman? Do men make better women? Or women better men? Is gender a costume we put on and take off? Are we really all always in drag? Does gender-bending lead to transcendence or chaos? These questions and their ramifications for liminalities of race, nationality and sexuality will be our focus in a course that examines dramatic works from The Bacchae to M. Butterfly.


Valid as a day study but not as a full elective. Its too narrow a subset of the psychology of fashion.

15. "Oh, Look, a Chicken!" Embracing Distraction as a Way of Knowing (Belmont University) - Students must write papers using their personal research on the five senses. Entsminger reads aloud illustrated books The Simple People and Toby’s Toe to teach lessons about what to value by being alive. Students listen to music while doodling in class. Another project requires students to put themselves in situations where they will be distracted and write a reflection tracking how they got back to their original intent.


Valid as a minor course elective. It teaches about self awareness, yes there is a psychology behind doodling and behind music. I see this more as a self help course than education, but self help is educational in its own way and possibly more valuable.

17. "Cyberporn And Society" (State University of New York at Buffalo) - With classwork like this, who needs to play? Undergraduates taking Cyberporn and Society at the State University of New York at Buffalo survey Internet porn sites.


Valid and important due to its extreme prevalence, with the legal technological and social dilemmas rising from it. This is not a joke topic.

18. "Sport For The Spectator" (The Ohio State University) - Develop an appreciation of sport as a spectacle, social event, recreational pursuit, business, and entertainment. Develop the ability to identify issues that affect the sport and spectator behavior.


Valid course for anyone wanting a career as a sports journalist.
So you watch a good game, why was it a good game? UIf you cant identify and articulate how are you going to get a job as a sports pundit, and they pay well.

19. "Getting Dressed" (Princeton) - Jenna Weissman Joselit looks over the roomful of freshmen in front of her and asks them to perform a warm-up exercise: Chart the major moments of your lives through clothes. "If you pop open your closet, can you recall your lives?" she posits on the first day of the freshman seminar "Getting Dressed."


This sounds like a one day event not a course. Asking students what their wardrobe tells them about themselves is a valid point of introspective thinking. I wont laugh at the teacher who asks this question of his/her class.

20. "How To Watch Television" (Montclair) - This course, open to both broadcasting majors and non-majors, is about analyzing television in the ways and to the extent to which it needs to be understood by its audience. The aim is for students to critically evaluate the role and impact of television in their lives as well as in the life of the culture. The means to achieve this aim is an approach that combines media theory and criticism with media education.


Valid. Television is incredibly important, you need to understand the media, even and possibly especially the lowbrow stuff to understand how it effects society.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Visiting YouTube after my Dakka session, first thing I saw as featured video was this:




What does this video tell you about changing technology?
Is there anything for a future or present culture to learn from understanding how simple technologies only very recently obsolete could become quickly unworkable.

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2014/03/03 18:27:30


n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.

It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. 
   
Made in us
Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

How to get a job with a Liberal Arts degree!


I honestly think most schools need an "Applying for a job with your college degree" class period or at least a job interviewing course. Nothing huge maybe just two credit hours. A lot of applying for a job is really in the interview.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/03/03 18:29:11


   
 
Forum Index » Off-Topic Forum
Go to: