i guess it shows parents don't look at the classes their spawn are taking... or if they know they are taking trash like this, they deserve to have them live in their basement for he rest of their lives
Actually, from an academic standpoint, some of those courses could be very enlightening if taught right. The Harry Potter one and the one on invented languages in particular. Sure, the example subject material is a bit mainstream, but the underlying theme is worth exploring. With the HP course, they are looking at the implication s of “history is written by the winner”, and the language course hopefully explores how languages develop.
They should post next to it how much money each one of these class’s is costing in tuition. Also what degree they apply to.
Most of them look silly, but #2, 5, and 6 actually sound interesting.
Facebook would not let me share....says it is “spammy”
i guess it shows parents don't look at the classes their spawn are taking... or if they know they are taking trash like this, they deserve to have them live in their basement for he rest of their lives
And that nightmare of showing up for your final exam naked comes back again.
When I went to the U of Washington in the ‘70s, this type of course was offered in an Alternate University run by the student association. Minimal fee, and no college credit. I took a couple of the courses for FUN.
Several of these courses look like they could be FUN. But for official credit, I think not!
Most of these class if done right have more value than any thing in a ________studies course. Take “Oh, Look, a Chicken!”. Many people here could learn something about writing while distracted. If you read post they lose track. Many schools have tracks to run on. My college had squirrels in the trees. Hey look a red car.
Actually, a lot of them sound like courses that are trying to use popular culture as a hook to draw beginning students into studying something they might not otherwise consider studying. As long as the approach to the actual subject is solid, I have no problem with such courses being offered as intro level courses in any discipline, at any institution of higher education.
On the other hand, some of them sound like post-modernist dreck.
21. Dear Leader revisits Mans World, without teleprompter he chokes on Mr. Microphone.
#6 is actually an interesting-sounding, and possibly informative one. Of course, I’m in computer science and have a soft spot for language [and construction thereof].
Student who sent e-mail needs to learn how to speak grammar.
I met Gary Larson at a book signing years ago. I think he would chuckle over the insect course. A louse, beetle and butterfly carry his name in scientific notation according to wiki.
If #20 included “how to program a VCR,” then I would enroll!
When I was in college, there was a 300-level course for senior English majors on three books: Mann’s Magic Mountain, Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, and Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. The prerequisites were the necessary lower-level courses and German and French.
The idea of a course in Lady Gaga doesn’t really give me the old thrill of admiration I had for those seniors. Nice try, though.
I can see possible value in 13 and 20. The Far Side is an obvious hook to draw students in to studying bugs. Sort of comic relief for the serious study this cherry is laid on. I.E. studying BUGS does have its uses, for forensics and all sorts of scientific applications.
As for 20 if it’s taught correctly, it could well alert students to how the media can be use for propaganda and that what is NOT said is as important as what is not said.
“Zombies In Popular Media” must be a biographical review of the life of Chris Matthews.
“yes....I am majoring in Tupac Shakur Literature....with a minor in Bullet Hole Forensics”. /s
Craziest college course I had was Basketball Officiating....and that was to satisfy any phys ed requirement some potential 4yr schools had
There is an education opportunity here. I recent;y read that a trade school in CA offered a software engineering program that was 9 weeks long and cost $11K. It only taught the technical courses of a software engineering degree.
Imagine if schools around the nation offered these kinds of programs in mechanical, electronics, optics, computer science, chemistry, physics, etc. In 9 weeks you get an equivalent of a BS degree. A motivated individual could get multiple discipline certifications at the engineering level in less than 1 year and for less money than just a freshman year at many colleges.
As a side benefit of getting a very quick technical education, it would remove the opportunity for liberal indoctrination.
One more benefit. If you are older and stuck in a dead end career, you would be able to change all of that with $11K and 9 weeks of your time. That sure beat the alternative of 4 years of college, massive debt and maybe missing the window of opportunity on good jobs.