With confusion surrounding class scheduling for the quarters-to-semesters transition, the easy way out could be scheduling the most interesting classes listed in the course offerings.
If that is the route a student chooses to take, there are a multitude of bizarre-sounding courses to spice up one’s schedule.
Some of Ohio University’s most popular and noteworthy classes offer students education and experience in non-standard topics such as caving, stress management and team handball.
Here are three such intriguing courses being offered in the upcoming academic year:
SCUBA DIVER
While the university offers many recreation classes such as mountain biking and caving, the scuba diving class – taught by Steve Sammons – continues to be a popular choice among students.
“It’s closed out every quarter, but if you come to the first class I can usually get everyone in,” said Sammons, the associate director of campus recreation.
Students participate in a number of activities such as skin diving, surface dives and different kicks and exercises so that they are comfortable in the water. All students are required to pass a swim test, but there are no other requirements. The class will be offered during Fall Semester.
According to Sammons, what makes the class special is the environment.
“Scuba diving is in an environment we’re not made to be in, that’s what makes it unique,” he said. “Our students have a great time.”
HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC
This class, which has been offered every quarter this year and will be available next semester, examines the birth, growth and development of rock music. There are no requirements to get in, but the class fills up quickly.
“There are always far more students than we have chairs for,” said the course’s instructor, graduate student Thomas Ryan-Hirst. “The lecture hall always feels like we could fill it twice. There’s always a waiting list, demand is high.”
Ryan-Hirst credits the class’ popularity to the teaching approach toward the subject.
“There are a couple of dangers in trying to set up a class like this, one being that it becomes trivia and in avoiding that trap is where the uniqueness comes in,” he said. “We focus on the why. Elvis happened, he was this huge phenomenon in the 1950s, why? It’s a fun class and it’s a serious class at the same time.”
SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT
Professor Deb Henderson also sees a high demand for her sociology of sport class, which also will be offered next semester.
“It’s a requirement for several majors on campus, but I’ve seen high demand across the board,” she said. “It’s filled to capacity every time I teach it.”
Some of that popularity, according to Henderson, comes from the subject matter.
“It’s sports. What’s not fun about sports? I try to make it a class I would have been interested in as an underclassmen,” she said. “It’s interactive. We hit a lot of hot button topics going own within the sport, things that are happening that we can analyze sociologically to make things better, make sports better.”
The course covers topics such as collegiate athletics, violence and deviance, religion, mass media and racism. Students need to have taken Intro to Sociology in order to register for this class.
jf392708@ohiou.edu
