Kenyon is known for providing students with an intimate learning experience through small classes, great professors, and vibrant discussion. Amongst all the intro courses, seminars and distribution requirements, there are some truly great, must-take classes that make you think, wonder and want to know more. These are some of Kenyon’s finest classes, and ones that you should seriously consider putting on your Kenyon Class Bucket List
The Quest for Justice
Perhaps Kenyon’s most famous class, this course is usually only open to first year students, but some professors have been known to let in sophomores occasionally as well. In this full year introductory Political Science course, students study numerous political theorists from the ancients to the moderns. The small classes allow underclassmen to get a taste of discussion-based seminars that debate over aspects of human nature and political relations.
Why you need to take it: This course is specifically designed to help incoming students adjust to the kind of learning that they will be experiencing here at Kenyon. It emphasizes close reading as well as sophisticated and creative writing, and strongly encourages students to voice their opinions. It’s typically a class where controversial issues are discussed courteously, and received respectfully.
The Holocaust
This rare interdisciplinary course discusses the complex psychological, religious, philosophical, historical and sociological elements of one of the darkest moments in our world’s history. Discussion based and seminar-like in nature, students are encouraged to voice their opinions, ask questions and treat the subject matter with every ounce of humility and respect it deserves.
Why you need to take it: In true liberal arts fashion, this course makes you question everything you know about the world and those who live in it. This class probes deep into the psyche, forcing students to face controversial, significant issues and questions about human nature. It’s not your typical course—it challenges you to think differently.
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
This one hundred level class is the first course intended for those wishing to major in Anthropology, and a pre-requisite for all other upper-level work in the subject. Anthropology explores how cultures relate to one another, appreciating diversity and discovering how we all relate to one another despite differences.
Why you need to take it: A quintessential Kenyon course, this class asks the student to adopt a world perspective and appreciate the variance of the human existence. The course boasts a transformative aspect of its teachings, claiming that students will come to examine their own cultural existences in a way they hadn’t before.
Abnormal Psychology
This upper-level psychology course provides students with an overview of all that encompasses adolescent and adult mental disorders, from causes to treatment. Students will then learn about a wide array of disorders, such as anxiety and schizophrenia.
Why you need to take it: This course explores an important aspect of society—how abnormal behavior is identified and labeled, and all the controversy that comes with such an identification. Students will be faced with important questions about abnormality and all that such a branding entails.
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