Springing into quirky courses


A mosaic of different archival images
|

A new semester means a new crop of interesting courses at Arizona State University.

Perhaps that (bad) romance novel you received as a white elephant gift leads you to Arthurian Knights and Ladies (ENG 320) or Bad Romance Edges Glory Lady Gaga: Ideology of Otherness (ENG 394). Or maybe those many family holiday get-togethers have you contemplating God and the Problem of Suffering (MAS 598) or — if your holiday meals are of the less dramatic type — Philosophy of Happiness (PHI 326).

Spring is full of commemorative months. In time for Women’s History Month in March, students can learn about the Gender, Science and Technology (WST 340) or attend a women’s studies course like Desperate Housewives (WSTWST stands for Women’s Studies, by the way, not Wisteria Lane. 374) and learn about the visualization of housewives in popular culture — not just on Wisteria Lane. Students can also double-down on American culture, history and society with American Style (AMS 201).

More of a mad-scientist type? Other ASU courses cater to STEMSTEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math students, such as Design of Aerospace Structures (AEE 426) and Space Vehicle Dynamics/Control (AEE 462) or the Essentials of Astrobiology: Exploration for Life in the Universe (SES 311). While Ecology and Natural History of the Sonoran Desert (SCN 301) will prepare students ahead of the springtime blooming season, maybe their interest lies less in flora and more in fauna, with such courses as the HoneyBee Biology and Apiculture (BIO 494) and Equine Therapy (PRM 494). 

Many students are unaware that language tracks at ASU focus on culture as much as language. Fans of the movie “300” can get a more in-depth understanding of Greece and Rome at War (GRK 360). Students can learn more about Rumpelstiltskin and the Frog Prince in the German course Fairy Tales (GER 441). They can learn about such cultural topics as gosa, an offering to spirits, in Korean Culture and Society (KOR 250), or explore the Arabic course Quran Text and Women (ARB 341).

And while a bit dark, students can prepare themselves for the far future with Death and Dying – Cross Cultural Perspective (ASB 353) as they prepare themselves for life after graduation.

These classes fit into the more than 300 academic programs and majors offered within the ASU knowledge enterprise. They are intellectually rigorous takes on a diverse array of topics that can help to develop the thinking skills that create adaptable master learners — and make learning a lot of fun.

More Sun Devil community

 

People working at a table filled with printed materials in a well-lit room, two women in the foreground are smiling at the camera.

ASU Alumni Association celebrates back-to-school with teacher packs

With a new school year right around the corner, the ASU Alumni Association is once again gearing up to provide Sun Devil Teacher Packs to K–12 alumni educators around the world.These complimentary…

ASU sign against a blue sky

ASU among elite universities in scholarship program for Peruvian students

Among the thousands of first-year Sun Devils arriving at Arizona State University for the fall semester will be eight students who have traveled nearly 4,000 miles from their native Peru.The eight…

Elderly man waving to a crowd as he stands on a football field next to two servicemembers at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

Gregory Melikian remembered for ‘steadfast dedication to critical language and global engagement’

Gregory Melikian, U.S. Army veteran, community leader and longtime benefactor of Arizona State University, passed away peacefully on July 14.Two weeks earlier, with Emma, his wife of 70 years, and…