Okay, I am dating myself. Today, you don't get your bogus degrees from some school with a P.O. Box but from some place with a name like www.universityofPOBox2000.com.
So I was entertained when I stumbled across this from Amy S. Quinn at www.collegedegree.com: a list of the Top 25 Strangest College Courses.
I won't go through them all, just some of the more amusing, or ridiculous, in no particular order.
The Phallus, a course at Occidental College, one of the USA's best small schools. Obviously, not a course for weenies.
Queer Musicology, from UCLA. What can I say? Nothing is probably best.
Finding Dates Worth Keeping, at the University of Sioux Falls. Huh? Laurie Chaplin is the instructor, and part-time bartender. Actually, the university is a Christian one, so I don't think this course is some hedonistic romp through academia.
The Art of Walking, at Centre College in Danville, KY. This isn't as bogus as it sounds: it's about Immanuel Kant.
Learning From YouTube, at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. Students watch YouTube videos, discuss them, and leave comments on them. But this is not just some "gut" course; it's all done under the tutelage of Professor Alexandra Juhasz.
Maple Syrup: The Real Thing, at Alfred University. How sweet! This course is in the Honors Program, along with The Good, the Bad and the Revolting; Tightwaddery, or the Good Life on a Dollar a Day (one of the Top 25). But there is also a course entitled Water Treatment Solutions for Undervedeveloped Countries, which sounds damn good.
The Evolution of Low Brow: Modern Popular Arts at Canada's School of Interactive Art and Technology. Guest lecturers incude: Britney, Lynne, and Jamie Lynn Spears, Jerry Springer, Lindsay Lohan, Rupert Murdoch, Dr. Phil, Fred Thompson, and Paris Hilton.
American Golf: Aristocratic Pastime or People's Game? at Carnegie Mellon. Students have the option of taking this course, which attempts to turn the study of golf history into "a legitimate academic subject," according to The Princeton Review's report. Uh-huh.
Philosophy and Star Trek at Georgetown University. St. Ignatius Loyola must be spinning in his grave, seeing what his Jesuits have wrought. Actually, this course sounds pretty interesting. From the description: "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." Heck, I'd like to register.
I've had fun with these, but since I am a long-time academic, I know enough not to judge a course merely by its title. College students face many choices, and since departmental budgets are often based on the "numbers", you often need to come up with a catchy course title so the students will give your course a second look.
Enjoy!
"Academic arguments are the bitterest because the stakes are the lowest." -- Unknown
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