Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame
3 credits
$1,200 in-state; $3,150 out-of-state
Enrollment: N/A
Quoting Oliver Wendell Holmes in the course description doesn’t succeed in making this offering seem legitimate. The course promises to introduce sociology students to an analysis of “selected social issues related to the career of Lady Gaga.” At least the students may pop out their earbuds to study Gaga
Joy of Garbage
4 credits
$4,881.00 (based on 4-course average load)
Enrollment: 38 students (cap.: 40)
Students "follow the path of our waste products". ” While the search for sustainable solutions to waste problems is an important topic, Santa Clara University is collecting a whole lot of cash to teach students about bottle deposits.
Harry Potter: Finding Your Patronus
$237.17 in state; $681.17 out of state (based on 15 credits/semester)
Enrollment: N/A
What do Martin Luther King Jr. and Albus Dumbledore have in common? Nothing, but don’t tell that to freshmen at
Theatrical Fencing
1 credit
$331.00 in-state; $966 out-of-state
Enrollment: 17 (capacity was recently raised to 28 from 20 to accommodate demand)
An offering from the department of kinesiology (i.e. phys ed), the course description asserts that “good theatrical fencing is a distinct form of the art of sword craft and worth of careful study.” Yes, we’re talking about a prancing award with a wooden sword (students have to buy their own). But at nearly $1000 for out-of-state students, it seems like a better deal than another offering of the department: Fitness Walking.
**The irony isn’t wasted on me for this next class. HA!!
DJ History, Culture and Technique
4 credits
$4,636.00
Enrollment: 7 (cap. 10)
Would-be Rick Rubins and DJ AMs can learn to scratch at
Arguing with Judge Judy: Popular ‘Logic’ on TV Judge Shows
1 credit
$415.40 in-state; $1,178.03 out-of-state based on 15-credit load
Enrollment: N/A
Judge Judy Sheindlin once penned a book called Keep It Simple, Stupid. This class isn’t heeding her advice. To extrapolate significant lessons in human rhetoric from daytime programming seems like an ambitious goal. Especially when many of the arguments made by the litigants are “utterly illogical, or perversions of standard logic.”
**A class that I am pretty positive would NEVER EVER be offered at any of the schools in the SEC.
Sport for the Spectator
3 credits
$278.25 (based on course load of 12 credits per semester)
Enrollment: N/A
Seems strange that any
Learning from YouTube
$5,318.75 (based on eight-course-per-year load)
Enrollment: 40
Haven’t we already “learned” from YouTube? Haven’t we absorbed all the “cute kittens” and “baby sloth” and “falling models” we possibly can? Apparently we were having too much fun. Did you know that, “Radical media theorists have looked with utopian zeal to a moment in the media future which turns out to be upon us: a time where access to the production and distribution of media is democratically available outside channels organized by capital?” Zzzzzzz.
**I do believe this to be a poor excuse for a class, but James Franco, is rather nice to look at while one studies. ;)
Geology and Cinema
4 credits
$$1,506.80 in-state, 2,168.32 out of state
Enrollment: 347
Knocking out your physical science requirement and getting to watch such cinematic gems as Tremors and Journey to the Center of the Earth sounds like a liberal arts student’s dream. That’s pretty much what it is at the
