1. Consumerism and Social Change in Mad Men America, 1960-1963 (Northwestern University)
AMC’s Mad Men has developed a wildly devoted following in four short seasons, spotlighting the effects of social change and consumerism on middle-class Americans in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. Northwestern University Professor Michael Allen considers the show to be the perfect reference point on which to base the curriculum for his popular freshman history course, “Consumerism and Social Change in Mad Men America, 1960-1963.” Students complement two episodes of the show’s first season every week with historical texts. Allen told the school’s campus newspaper when the class was first introduced that the show “helps to illuminate the ways that life in the United States was changing and allows me to address a variety of topics including economic growth, changes in the nuclear family, political controversies, race relations and sex, and sexuality in the late ‘50s and early '60s.”
2. South Park and Contemporary Social Issues (McDaniel College)
Scripted television has come a long way in recent years and has apparently become a substitute for the traditional textbook. Though perhaps not as sophisticated as Mad Men, in its 15 seasons, Comedy Central’s controversial cartoon South Park has perhaps contributed more social commentary than any other show on TV. Sophomores enrolled in “South Park and Contemporary Social Issues” are required to view how the show has humorously tackled every hot topic from gay marriage to terrorism. The course description promises 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.”
Comedy Central
3. Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame (University of South Carolina)
After being entranced the first time he saw Lady Gaga perform on The Tonight Show back in 2009, Mathieu Deflem became something of a Gaga Groupie. But following the Mother Monster around the world, purchasing hundreds of her albums, and even meeting her in person several times was not enough for the University of South Carolina sociology professor. Last year Deflem introduced an entire course dedicated to just how, exactly, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta became the Queen of Pop. A word of caution: this fall’s course description insists that “this is not a course in Lady Gaga but in sociology; and it is not a course about Lady Gaga as much as it is about the culture of the fame as exemplified by the career of Lady Gaga.” Some student fans may be disappointed to learn that the course does not include “any music or videos.”
Chris Pizzello / AP Photo
4. Zombies in Popular Media (Columbia College Chicago)
Vampires may be trendy, and perhaps will soon be replaced by ghosts as the next “it” monster, but zombies will always be a classic. Columbia College in Chicago has offered the course “Zombies in Popular Media” for the past three years and though it may sound like a blow-off, five hours of watching and analyzing zombie films could be grueling. Columbia, which Zombies Professor Brendan Riley explains is “training artists, mostly,” also offers such unique classes as “’The Simpsons as Satirical Authors,” and “Science Fiction Visions of a Post-Human Future.”
AMC
5. The Ugly American Comes Home (University of Chicago)
College students studying abroad are often briefed before their departure on how not to stand out as an “ugly American” during their travels. The University of Chicago wants to make sure such students are able to properly process what they’ve seen and learned abroad so they can incorporate the experience into their regular lives. “The Ugly American Comes Home” teaches travelers how to “assimilate and articulate your experience” upon returning stateside.
6. Entertainment Representation (Boston University)
Instead of studying abroad, Boston University students are offered the opportunity to spend a semester in Los Angeles learning how to become a Hollywood agent or manager. As interns in the program called “Entertainment Representation,” upper-class and graduate BU students learn the ins-and-outs of the entertainment biz, an experience that has led to actual jobs in the industry. BU also offers a shorter trip to California—a one-week intensive course in Silicon Valley—called “Digital Transformation: Immersive Interactions and Insights at Silicon Valley,” during which students study the community’s role in digital innovation and business.
HBO
7. Wordplay: A Wry Plod From Babel to Scrabble (Princeton)
Word nerds flock to Princeton Professor Joshua Katz’s constrained writing course, “Wordplay: A Wry Plod from Babel to Scrabble.” Students learn to have fun with English as well as other languages, formulating sentences and stories that use puns, alliteration, anagrams, pangrams, onomatopoeia, and other literary games. If nothing else the freshmen who take this course will leave with an anagrammed nickname and the ability to hold their own if they ever find themselves in the Icelandic version of a “Yo Mama” battle.
Paul Connors / AP Photo
8. The Making of Modern Baseball (Princeton)
The great American pastime has evolved immensely over the last century. From racial integration to globalization to business and city planning, this fall’s “The Making of Modern Baseball” course at Princeton has something for everyone whether they’re a sports fan or not.
AP Photo
9. “Oh, Look, a Chicken!” Embracing Distraction as a Way of Knowing (Belmont University)
It’s recently become somewhat of a tradition for college students to diagnose themselves with ADD (and self-prescribe the appropriate antidote) but Belmont University’s “Oh, Look, a Chicken!” class teaches students to welcome and utilize the many distractions of everyday life. "Embracing Distraction" Professor Deen Entsminger doesn’t just cater to students with Attention Deficit Disorder or other learning disabilities, in the past four years his class has attracted students from all majors, intrigued by Entsminger’s lessons on learning through distraction.
Jeff Chiu / AP Photo
10. What if Harry Potter is Real? (Appalachian State University)
Potterheads will be taking out their wands to duel for a spot in a class offered later this year at Appalachian State University. Called “What if Harry Potter is Real?” the course uses the massively popular novels and films to question the nature of history and its many uses. The class description says the books will help students to “examine issues of race, class, gender, time, place, the uses of space and movement, the role of multiculturalism in history.” Hopefully someone will discover a hidden world of wizardry by the final exam. Students at George Washington University will also be given the opportunity to get credit for discussing Harry Potter. In “The Politics of Death, Dismemberment, and Resurrection in Harry Potter,” Professor Daniel McClain questions whether J.K. Rowling’s sprawling tale has an underlying political message.
Universal Pictures
11. Physics for Future Presidents (UC Berkeley)
College is, at its core, designed to prepare students for success in life. This UC-Berkeley class goes one step further and promises to equip its students with skills “that will help you run the world.” The course, “Physics for Future Presidents,” skips the mathematics of real physics, because “future presidents don’t have time for that,” and goes straight to teaching the results of such physical complexities as radioactivity, nuclear weapons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Presidential Professors Richard A. Miller and Bob Jacobson warn that some of the information absorbed in the class won’t be useful outside of a White House dinner conversation and, oddly enough, consider a football coach to be a world leader, on par with president, diplomat, and Supreme Court justice.
Gerald Herbert / AP Photo
12. Tightwaddery, or the Good Life on a Dollar a Day (Alfred University)
Professor Emrys Westacott introduced his course “Tightwaddery: Life on a Dollar a Day,” in 2004, but his lessons seem to have become all the more applicable in the years since. Times are tough, and when better to learn how to live on a budget than in college? This fall Alfred honors students are encouraged to reject the notion that spending money leads to happiness—“a lie perpetrated by capitalists in order to sell their products,” as the course description explains, and instead learn to cut each others’ hair and spot the best deals a grocery stores.
13. The Textual Appeal of Tupac Shakur (University of Washington)
The dream of studying the influences behind Tupac Shakur’s lyrics has come true in three universities. Harvard, University of California Berkeley, and University of Washington all have offered classes on the late rap legend. In 2003, UW offered a class using books like “The Art of War” and “Hamlet” to decipher meaning in the late rap legend’s songs. After listening to his songs in the classroom, students analyzed their meaning and used the themes to discuss race, gender and class issues.
Anonymous / AP Photo
14. The American Vacation (University of Iowa)
The next best thing to going on vacation is daydreaming about one. So it’s only natural that professors at the University of Iowa would channel that into the classroom, by offering “The American Vacation” for fall 2011. Topics include social history of vacations and, of course, studying the way race, class, and gender shape experiences.
15. Goldberg’s Canon: Makin’ Whoopi (Bates College)
Students majoring in rhetoric at Bates College can pick from classes studying the politics of pleasure and desire or the rhetoric of alien abduction, but none are as unusual as the class titled “Goldberg’s Canon: Makin’ Whoopi.” The cleverly named course includes dozens of guest lecturers talking about a variety of topics, from “Alien Whoopi: Star Trek and the Goldberg Generation” to “What Part of Whoopi is You?”
Evan Agostini / AP Photo
16. Art of Walking (Centre College in Danville, Ky.)
Not many professors conduct class on a battlefield, but no spot is off limits for Dr. Ken Keffer’s Centre College class. There’s nothing like a mind-numbing lecture in a dim classroom to make students doze off, so after briefly studying Critique of Judgment by German philosopher Immanuel Kant, Keffer leads the group on a three-hour walk during his aptly named “Art of Walking” class. He’s found there’s no better way to fuel philosophical discussions, and says, “The afternoon walks flow like water in comparison [to the classroom], loosen tongues in the free play of unsupervised conversation.”
Bob Child / AP Photo
17. Philosophy of Star Trek (Georgetown)
“Could you go back and kill your grandmother?” “Do you have free will?” “What is a person?” These are just some of the questions to be debated this fall in Georgetown University’s “Philosophy and Star Trek” course. Star Trek is prime philosophical material and the classroom is the perfect place to hash out all those tough subjects, says the syllabus. Students won’t get away with a movie marathon, though. The class will be reading other important works of philosophy and analyzing key themes.
Ric Francis / AP Photo
18. White-Collar and Corporate Crime (UC Irvine, also at Indiana University)
University of California at Irvine and Indiana University are both offering classes delving into the strange world of white-collar criminals. “White-Collar and Corporate Crime” discusses perspectives on the criminal elements within the professional world.
Stuart Ramson / AP Photo
