You might think that your zoology class or your pop culture class was one of the weirdest, or most interesting, college courses you had. Well sorry to break it to you, but those classes are boring compared to some of these classes that exist in other universities!
What if Harry Potter is Real?
This is the name of a course at Appalachian State University. No, I am not kidding. This course is designed to study issues of race, class, gender, time, place, space and movement. It examines the role that multiculturalism has in history. This course is used to question the nature of history. Also, for extra credit, anyone who learns how to apparate at the end of the course gets 100 extra points. (Not really…)
The Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur
This course is now available at three different universities: UC Berkeley, Harvard and University of Washington. Die-hard fans who are still in denial about Tupac’s death need to take this class. In class, students listen to songs by him and try to analyze the rap legend’s lyrics. Students use the themes of his works to analyze race, gender and class controversies.
Zombies in Popular Media
Columbia College in Chicago offers this course as artist training. They watch hours of films with zombies in them and analyze them. This class may sound like an easy ‘A,’ but hours of zombie films sounds a kind of tedious. If you are really into zombies in film, this is the perfect class for you.
Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame
This entire course educates students exactly how Lady Gaga rose to fame and became the Queen of Pop. It is offered at the University of South Carolina from a sociology professor. There is no music or video-watching in the class. It is more about the culture of fame in general and how Lady Gaga has exemplified that, rather than her actual content.
South Park and the Contemporary Social Issues
This course is offered at McDaniel College to analyze how South Park has contributed the most social commentary out of every show on TV. South Park has tackled every controversial topic that appears in the news. The actual course description of this class states that, “students will gain a deeper understanding of how to analyze and critically think through the very real social problems addressed by the television show as well as gain new knowledge of the benefits of applying an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary issues.”
Wordplay: A Wry Plod From Babel to Scrabble
This class that Princeton offers teaches how to make English fun. They learn how to use puns, alliterations, anagrams and onomatopoeia in order to write stories. The students leave with an anagrammed nickname and a better understanding of words, and how to use them to their advantage.
Although these specific courses may not be offered at your school, find out what courses are! Maybe there are some even stranger ones that you could sign up for today!