The Strangest College Classes

Besides offering students the traditional classes of English, history, philosophy and mathematics, some colleges and universities provide their students with a few weird and unique electives to choose from. Electives are classes that students can choose to take that still count towards their degree plan, but are not a part of their specific field of study. Below are a few examples of some of the strangest courses offered in colleges across America.

One of the most bizarre college classes available is entitled "Arguing With Judge Judy: Popular Logic on TV Judge Shows." The University of California Berkeley offers this class for students to explore the legal falsities that exist in daytime judge programs like Judge Judy. UCB explicitly claims that this class is not a legal reasoning or legal education class in anyway, but more a class in social sciences.

We’ve all heard the joke that college students wasting away their time are really taking classes in "underwater basket weaving", but it’s not a joke anymore. The University of California, San Diego and Reed College in Portland, Oregon turned the joke into a real class for its students. It involves students making wicker baskets by dipping and soaking reeds into water, and then molding them into their desired shapes. Goggles and floaties are optional in this classroom!

Another bizarre class available in some colleges is "Philosophy and Star Trek." Obviously populated by throngs of Trekkies, this class is offered by the prestigious Georgetown University and questions the issues of time travel, smart computers and free will. Students will be able to watch Star Trek episodes and discuss how the underlying philosophical questions in the show relate to their reality. Resistance is futile, so beam us up, Scotty!

Many colleges and universities have several buildings spread across a large campus, forcing students to walk a great day between classes and parking lots and dorms. One school, Centre College in Kentucky, offers students the chance to study The Art of Walking. That’s right. The faculty draws parallels between art, beauty and life, and walking. They also discuss walking as a lost mode of transportation thanks in part to the dominance of automobiles in our society.

If you are a college student looking for a fun and interesting elective to enroll in, check you college’s course offerings for one of these classes or something equally as strange.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 10th, 2010 at 7:58 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.