Oddball 101: The 11 Wackiest College Courses of Fall 2009 - Queer Mobilities

Foc News ^ | 9/3/09 | AP

[nmh]

Want to try out this new course at Oberlin College? For a hefty $4,950 you'll get to examine why "only citizens ... 'get' to claim queerness, whereas undocumented immigrants are always presumed to be heteronormative."

In other words, you'll study why people "always" assume that illegal immigrants are straight.

...

[Bob]

“heteronormative”.

Man somebody is going to eventually get his peepee wacked using a term that I am sure is considered a slur in the gay population.

No, the term heteronormative is an insult that the gay "community" came up with to disparage those people who don't accept their "lifestyle". (It's used very similarly to homophobic).

[PittsburghAfterDark]

I actually questioned two of them.

- What’s the harm of learning to make maple syrup? It’s a trade isn’t it?

- I see no problem with MIT students taking a course on video game history, design, philosophy and knowing how to beat a game and working through good and bad design. After all I’m sure many EA and Activision designers have no idea what makes up a good game. Anything with a movie license pretty much proves my point.

[SeekAndFind]

What’s the harm of learning to make maple syrup? It’s a trade isn’t it?

Nothing, but my aunt who opens a store in Mystic, CT could teach us to make maple syrup for free. She could even teach us the business while she's at it.

[fortunecookie]

"From my understanding, this is a class that is teaching students to critically engage in topics of identity around sexuality, nationality, disability ... [issues] that are not only part of the larger public discourse, but that people are engaged in on many college campuses and within the broader society as well."

Reminds me of junior high kids and one goof off asks incessant and inane questions to try to throw the teacher off topic (some fall for it) and get some laughs.

Want to try out this new course at Oberlin College? For a hefty $4,950 you'll get to examine why "only citizens ... 'get' to claim queerness, whereas undocumented immigrants are always presumed to be heteronormative." In other words, you'll study why people "always" assume that illegal immigrants are straight.

Gee, that's a new one, I didn't know people always assume 'only citizens are privileged to 'claim queerness'. Privileged, no less. And why do we care if people we meet know our gender preference, unless we're interested in a date? They're making a nice batch of stone soup out of this one. And now we're calling illegals 'undocumented immigrants'?

[fortunecookie]

The Maple Syrup course could be useful. And the course on Stupidity is quite tongue in cheek, could be fun to watch. And, lol, to meet the right general elective, I could enjoy the Judge Judy class!

[BossLady]

101 Class for the Bootyologist Degree???

[Paladin2]

You have a future as a marketing genius. ;-)

[BossLady]

I produced commercials so I know a decent hook...LOL! ;)

[Ramius]

How can there be a discussion of oddball college courses without even one reference to The Evergreen State College?

That place *defines* oddball.

[nmh]

“How can there be a discussion of oddball college courses without even one reference to The Evergreen State College?”

Please, comment on that one too!!!

[Ramius]

Man... I don’t know where to start. Evergreen is so... so... out there. I mean like Art Bell “out there”. Free-form “design your own degree” and all. You can literally get a bachelors in anything you can dream up a curriculum for.

I think they even lost their accreditation for a while, because they’d gone so far out into experimental education methods. I’m not sure whether they *require* drug use or merely encourage it... but that place is armpit-deep in pot and shrooms and acid. Drum circles sprout up like daisies and everything smells like patchouli oil.