Time to party!
Ever been to a party and thought there's something missing? Perhaps that something was a bit of academic advice.
The Arts & Sciences Council held COD release parties earlier this week, providing students with pizza, soda and advice about course registration.
ASC's department representatives advised students to fulfill their requirements early and to choose professors, not classes. They also suggested particular math and science classes for students uninterested in those fields.
"I think the overall advice that they gave us ... was pretty good, because they all had different areas of study," first-year College student Raquel Upshur said.
First-year College student Ellen Nein also responded positively to the party, saying all the recommendations for classes and professors were very helpful.
Both Nein and Upshur, however, said more should be done to help advise students and acclimate them to the registration process.
Nein said registering for classes her first semester was a horrible experience.
"I didn't know anything about the classes or the departments or the professors, and it was just really intimidating," she said.
Upshur said she thinks the COD is not 100 percent clear.
"I don't get all their abbreviations," she said, adding that more could be done to teach students about the COD.
For further advising, second-year College student Ben Chrisinger, ASC environmental science representative, said students can go to ASC's office hours in Clemons Library or e-mail department representatives with questions.
-- Kelly Underwood
Omm
If you are a first-year student looking for an interesting class to fill those last few credits that you feel lazy without taking, USEM 181, "Quantum Theory and Consciousness," might be the class for you. But if you want a class that will blow your mind, a class where you'll have to put your book down in the middle of the reading just to say "whoa," it is definitely the class for you.
Though it might sound like another terrifying physics class -- and the physics part will take some effort to wrap your head around -- the end result is so worth it: enlightenment. That's right. When your family asks what you learned over the school year, you can be the only one to answer, "Not much, I just achieved nirvana."
The class meets once a week, and the structure is pretty straightforward. Every week you have a short reading and an even shorter paper to do before class. Each class is a mostly free-form discussion of the reading, giving you plenty of time to mull over the implications of the material. After that, there's a brief quiz on the day's discussion. Sounds simple, right?
Well, look out for exactly what that reading is. By the end of the semester you'll be meditating, questioning your own sense of self and getting a better idea of the true nature of reality. Though you probably won't emerge a true guru, you'll definitely never look at things the same way again.
-- Hunter Tammaro
Gory glory
Don't think HIEU 314, "Anglo-Saxon England" is simply a course to fulfill a requirement. While knocking out my pre-1700 European history requisite for the history major was my main incentive in taking the course, it turned out to be one of my favorites at the University.
Asst. History Prof. Paul Kershaw provides a whirlwind of information, talking a mile a minute. A cup of coffee in hand, he paces the lecture hall, bringing the Anglo-Saxons to life again with his energy and enthusiasm. His British accent doesn't hurt either.
And even though I was completely bored and uninterested when I read "Beowulf" in high school, I had to rethink my beliefs. Kershaw tells the tale so vividly that for once, the poem actually feels like an epic.
The battles between Beowulf and the monsters are not the only excitement in the course. Anglo-Saxon England is full of combat and violence, from gruesome execution methods to demon-battling saints.
Though the course is definitely interesting and fun, it is not an easy A. Having to keep names like Aethelbald, Aethelberht, Athelred and Aethelwulf apart is no easy task. And, as with most classes, whether you get a good grade really depends on your TA.
-- Kelly Underwood
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