Looking for fun and unusual college classes? We thought so! My College Guide did some digging and discovered a wealth of great courses – on subjects you won’t believe. From Twilight to Performance Art to Brewing, these college courses are anything but ordinary!
ladybugbkt / Brandi Korte
Bella and Edward would Approve – Yes, Twilight fans, this University of Alabama interim lit course is all about Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series…and watching the movies and reading the novels that inspired the books! Think: William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, and Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, you know – classic works of literature! Special Topics in Literature: The Twilight Saga is sure to be a hit – and we’ve just got to know: who’s side are you on? Edward or Jacob?
Social and Open: No Cold Shoulder Here: Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts is encouraging students to think outside the box: socially and physically with their unusual Guerilla Performance Art and Politics course. Part history, part philosophy, and part performance, Tufts students will explore what it takes to create a social space — without boundaries, to break down the communications wall and foster actual conversation!
99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall – Okay so maybe Westminster College students aren’t bottling the stuff, but they are sticking around the Salt Lake City, Utah campus for an extra month for freebie interim classes like The Chemistry and Biology of Brewing. No, student’s don’t get to “taste-test” for “research” – instead, these beer brewing students have a unique opportunity to study and analyze the chain reactions that occur during the making of beer, all in the name of “college credit!”
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Broomsticks, Wands, and Bewitching – St. Catherine University students are up to their elbows in potions, hexes, and spells — if only on paper. Students at St. Kate’s are immersing themselves in all things Harry Potter for the Six Degrees of Harry Potter course. It’s a Harry Potter education for college credits! These St Paul, Minnesota college students aren’t just reading about Wizards and Muggles – they are participating in group discussion, checking out other Potter-related materials (and supportive, substantial works), even completing a final paper or project. You might just need your Remembrall for this Harry Potter class!
D’oh! What do The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park have in common? Not only are they clever cartoons: they are part of an actual college course at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois. It isn’t all laughs – college students who choose to take The Simpsons as Satirical Authors are supposed to work for this college credit! Students are expected and encouraged to pinpoint and see beyond society’s stereotypes, participating in class debate, group discussion, and then some!
Get Ready to Rock! — New York University is encouraging students to jam: Guitar Hero style! This video game playing and discussing class termed Music, Video Games, and the Nature of Human Cognition made waves across the Internet when it popped up in 2009 – and with popularity like that, and a wait list of students wanting in, well — we’re guessing (or is that hoping?) that it will be back in the Fall of 2010!
