Well, it’s that time of the year again… course registration! Every semester, course registration brings with it feelings of excitement and stress. BC students ask their friends for advice and spend hours on PEPs to try and nail down their perfect schedule. From the minute the course catalogs appear in the basement of Lyons, we eagerly count down the days until our 15-minute registration period.
While some of us may be fortunate enough to have the 9 am slot on the first day, others may find themselves watching all of the courses they had planned to take fill up before their terrible 4:30 pm registration time on the last day. Whatever your situation may be, we’ve found a couple of awesome courses hidden within the pages of the massive Boston College course catalog. Whether you’re looking to satisfy a few core requirements or are just looking for a fun class to fill your schedule, we’ve done some research for you to help put together your ideal spring semester schedule. Here’s a sneak peak at what we think sound like pretty awesome courses with some of BC’s best professors.
If you need to fulfill your natural science core:
Intersection of Science and Painting with Professor McFadden. Offered Tuesday/Thursday at 1:30
Professor McFadden really wants his students to succeed. He’s approachable and has an immense amount of knowledge in the field of chemistry. While he has been known to go off on tangents, he makes lectures go by quickly and posts the slides on Blackboard Vista. Professor McFadden is always willing to help out students and encourages them to come to office hours so he can work with them to help them complete the problem sets.
Course description:
In this course, material is drawn from physics, chemistry, and mineralogy to give the non-science student a scientific understanding of lights, color, and colorants used in painting, as well as an introduction to the methods of scientific analysis that can be brought to bear on conservation and restoration of paintings, on investigating hypotheses in history and on establishing authenticity of artwork.
If you need to fulfill your fine arts core requirement:
Elements of Dance with Professor Ver Eeck. Offered Tuesday/Thursday at 12
Professor Ver Eeck is, in one word, wonderful. He really cares about his students and is especially appreciative of students who are willing to step outside their comfort zones and let loose. He enjoys the material he teachers and the course is an interesting perspective on dance. Professor Ver Eeck’s passion and philosophy for dance is evident and his course is a stress free way to fulfill the arts core requirement.
Course description:
This course is designed to develop the student’s knowledge and experience of dance as an art form. The elements of dance used in ballet, modern and jazz will be introduced along with the principles of composition. The aesthetics of dance as an art form will also be studied. Students will be reading texts as well as viewing dance works in live performance and on video. This course will provide a groundwork for students who wish to do further work in technique, composition and performance.
If you need to fulfill your social science core requirement:
Deviance and Social Control with Professor Pfohl. Offered Tuesday/Thursday at 10:30
Professor Pfohl is quick-witted and light-hearted. He encourages students to come to office hours and helps students see the world in a new way. Some consider him one of the most intelligent professors at BC, and he actually wrote the textbook used in the class. Professor Pfohl encourages students to think outside the box and approach questions posed in the class in a new way. He lives and breathes sociology, and his class will change your academic experience at BC
Course description:
This course explores the social construction of boundaries between the “normal” and the so-called “deviant.” It examines the struggle between powerful forms of social control and what these exclude, silence, or marginalize. Of particular concern is the relationship between dominant forms of religious, legal, and medical social control and gendered, racialized and global economic structures of power. The course provides an in-depth historical analysis of theoretical perspectives used to explain, study and control deviance, as well as ethical-political inquiry into such matters as religious excess, crime, madness, corporate and governmental wrong-doing, and sexual subcultures that resist dominant social norms.
If you want to… double-dip and fulfill two core requirements:
Asia in the World II with Professor Clarke. Course is offered Tuesday/Thursday at 11 and satisfies the history and cultural diversity core requirements.
Professor Clarke is very passionate about history. He is always willing to go the extra mile for his students and help them in whatever way possible so that they can complete the assignments doing their best work. He is a generous scholar and gets students who aren’t history majors excited about the subject matter. Professor Clarke is hilarious and brilliant and a class with him is a great way to fulfill two core requirements.
Course description:
This core course surveys the Asian origins of the modern world from the rise of the Eurasian empire under the mongols in the thirteenth century to the global colonial context of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century. We will challenge common geographical (mis)conceptions in historical narratives, uncover their origins and how they have changed. While emphasizing the global conjunctions in history, this approach highlights Asian experiences of the historical forces that integrated yet also divided the world in changing ways.
If you want to learn how to control your friends:
Persuasion with Professor Fishman. Offered Monday/Wednesday at 4:30
Professor Fishman is very knowledgeable and accomplished in the communication field. He has a very good understanding of the communication industry, which is especially helpful for students majoring in this area. He is friendly, funny and classes are very engaging. Professor Fishman is an entertaining lecturer and classes go by quickly because he gets students excited about the subject matter.
Course description:
This course combines the theory and practice of persuasion. Students will examine current theories and research concerning influence, coercion, and manipulation. They will then apply these theories to current events and design a persuasive campaign.
If you’re in CSOM:
Leadership with Professor Marshall. Offered Wednesday from 3-5:30
Professor Marshall is an amazing professor in CSOM. She’s very fair and always available for help. While the course load can seem a bit demanding, the assignments are worth the effort and students are rewarded for their hard work. Professor Marshall is informative and fun and the readings she assigns are interesting and relevant. Mid-way through the semester, students participate in a ropes course, which brings their groups closer together and is a great way for students to bond with their classmates.
Course description:
In today’s world, there are many challenges that call for effective leadership. Corporate ethics scandals, an increasingly global and diverse work force, and the need for employees to experience renewed meaning and connection to their work are just a few examples. How we respond to these challenges can profoundly change the world in which we live and work. In this course, we learn about the challenges and opportunities of effective leadership and how leaders, including ourselves, can respond to them.
Entrepeneurship. Offered Thursday from 4:30-6:30.
Course description:
Starting and operating a new business involves considerable risk and effort to overcome all the inertia against marketing a new venture. More than two million new enterprises are launched each year, but 70% fail. Success requires not only effective personnel skills, but also effective managerial and marketing skills. This course will focus on the characteristics and the background(s) of entrepreneurs, the assessment of marketing opportunities, the development of a business plan, and the financing, management, and marketing of the new venture. Emphasis will be placed on digital and online business ventures.
If you want to take a Capstone Course:
Journey to Self Discovery with Professor Braman. Offered Monday from 4:30-6:30. Note: students can only take 1 capstone course during their 4 undergraduate years at BC.
Professor Braman wants students to do well. He has an unreal understanding of the material, and his amount of knowledge is extremely impressive. He expects a lot of his students, but he’s the kind of professor you’ll never forget. Professor Braman instills his passion for philosophy in his students and completely changes the way you think.
Course description:
As historical beings, our lives constitute a story that unfolds in time. Our lives narrate a journey from sin to salvation, despair to faith, sickness to health, death to life, darkness to light, and ignorance to knowledge. This is a journey to selfhood. We are sojourners struggling to understand more deeply who we are as this self, and what is my place in the world. This seminar will explore the four fundamental capstone issues of spirituality, citizenship, relationships, and work in terms of this notion of our life as a narrative, a journey to selfhood.
Sources:
http://www.ugbc.org/pep/detail
https://portal.bc.edu/portal/page/portal/MyServices/CourseOfferingSchedule
www.bigstockphoto.com
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