In that same spirit, just a little comic relief before the final. By the way, Human Development is most certainly NOT ridiculous and NOT in this category at all.
Monday, June 7, 2010
The 10 most ridiculous college courses.
My dad, who is a college professor too, used to tease me sometimes about courses I took in college that did not meet his standards of academic rigor. His favorite joke was to call them all "Underwater Basket Weaving."
In that same spirit, just a little comic relief before the final. By the way, Human Development is most certainly NOT ridiculous and NOT in this category at all.
In that same spirit, just a little comic relief before the final. By the way, Human Development is most certainly NOT ridiculous and NOT in this category at all.
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The blog was hysterical. this is my first term at a major university, and wondered about the different class. I especially enjoyed the gal in the comments who shared the carnival class, where the final was throwing a campus wide "carnival" that involved drinking games and partial nudity. Any class where you organize events with drinking and nudity gets a A+ for weird in my book.
ReplyDelete-Scott Richman
Very interesting blog. The surfing class makes me think of the most ridiculous class I took my freshman year: Bowling 101. We went to the bowling alley and bowled for every class. Definitely the most fun I've ever had getting an A. On the other hand, I really do detest not getting my money's worth. I'm in college for pete's sake, and the last thing I want to do is waste my time and money on a worthless class. If I had been in that History and Culture of the Adriatic Basin class at Yale, I would definitely have felt gypped. I'm sure someone will be out there thinking, "oh, relax" and rolling their eyes. I guess I've realized that I'm a bigger nerd than I thought after having read that blog.
ReplyDelete- Mia Summers
I think that there will always be those “classes” in which there is very little education involved. I also feel that there are also bogus majors. Some people are not wasting money on one class but waste a whole college career. Only to find that there is a limited amount of jobs or in many cases NO job at all. Yes I know that right now the economy and the high unemployment rate can be part of the answer, but plan ahead. As an example if you are going into public education get as many endorsements as possible make yourself “marketable” and make sure that you can do numerous jobs. Make it hard for your employer to “get rid of you” if can do three things and not just one= you keep your job and Bob who can only one may not be able to keep his. What is the moral of the story…. Go to school take real classes and get a degree that applies to the “real” world….
ReplyDeleteThese are some of the most ridiculous classes that I have ever heard of. Processed meats, brothel management, and the history of surfing – you have got to be kidding me. These examples are just a reminder of how absurd our education system has become. The education institution is money hungry, and classes like these are the proof of this fact. For me, practically the first three years of my college experience were wasted on “general education,” which really meant that I wasted thousands of dollars on classes that bored me and taught me nothing. Education no longer has anything to do with educating, it is simply learning how trudge your way through ridiculous requirements and being treated like you are in kindergarten. Prime example – I’m taking a sociology class, and I am discussing the grade I received for a reading journal with my professor. She explains to me how I lost points because I did not write about what I found interesting or something new I learned. I replied, “But I didn’t find anything interesting, and I didn’t learn anything new.” She then says to me, “Well then make it up.” Is this really what “learning” is about?
ReplyDelete-Rehanna K. (901832573)
These classes are hillarious! I don't really understand what the purrpose for most of them are but anyway a college or university can get its money is the way to go. It bothers me terribly that schools are run like businesses rather than education houses. I can slightly understand colleges and universities doing gigs like this, however I hate to see Elementary, middle, and High Schools being cut short in what they have to offer students these days. Larger class sizes, and less extra curricular activities is not what a developed nation should be doing! In order to have a better and brighter future, we need to make sure that the people of the future will be prepared to help make it that way.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Olson (975443138)
First off, Gabi are you a regular Jezebel reader? I may or may not spend an embarrassing amount of time commenting on that site...
ReplyDeleteSomething that this particular piece brought up for me when I first read it on Jezebel is the incredible amount of privilege that came across in the comments people left (both in the article you linked and in the original article calling for submissions). It is really interesting to me that most people were outraged at how ridiculous the courses were, or how they were a waste of time/money, rather than talking about how lucky they were/are to have the opportunity to take college courses of any variety. I think it is easy to take the ability to get higher education for granted.
Personally one of my most memorable courses was "Sacred Dance" which basically involved interpretive dancing to the Bible (as an atheist recovering from 18 years of Catholicism and a brief stint in more mainstream Christianity I wasn't about to pass up this opportunity). While the class was completely ridiculous at times, the experience was one that I wouldn't trade for anything. I think we get out of our college education what we are willing to put in.
-BreAnna D-K 943748949
Michael, ID: 927814999
ReplyDeleteMy favorite are professors who ask what you think your grade should be and, remarkably, the whole class gets A's. I don't see how they get away with it.
I took a one-credit Wilderness Survival course at the University of Oregon. I thought it would be a fun, easy A. On the first day of class I realized it would be an incredible amount of complex learning and work. In fact, the professor boasted that it was the most failed class at the University.
Later, I transferred to Southern Oregon University where they offered a wine appreciation class. You just had to be 21 and you get college credit to drink, and appreciate, actual wine at school. I figured there had to be some kind of catch, though, so I never took it.
This post hits home for me because my freshman year of college I was undecided with my major, so I was all about the PAC classes for easy A's. I decided that I would take my time in deciding what I wanted to pursue. Well, in this "window of opportunity" I filled in several credits with classes like basketball, scuba diving, surfing, and bowling. This was all fun and games until my parents figured out what classes I was getting A's in... and to top it off, what classes they were spending their money on... This lifestyle ended instantly for me and it was back to the books and trying to decide my major. However, in the end I realized how much I wasted my time and money with these classes. Granted they were fun and kept me busy all that time I could have been getting a head start on filling in classes that would actually make a difference in my future. In the end, even though people believe that these classes are a joke, its kind of a joke that we would decide to even take these classes. considering we have to pay for them. Unless its just a filler and your actually on track with school.
ReplyDeleteI also had similar experiences from my parents who would have appreciated if I have gotten a computer science degree because that was one of the popular majors of the Y2K era. However I went into study communication studies which did not excite my family. I took this class called persuasion and my parents both flipped. they did not understand why i needed to take a class to "persuade"...I dropped the class within a week. My friends who continued on actually thought the class was not as easy as it sounded. During college I really tried to take courses that made some sort of sense...But regardless with the given economy i feel like back to square one and trying to find a new direction with a BA degree and many years of work experience that has no relation to my education.
ReplyDelete