Top 15 Weirdest College Courses

Whoever said college is all work and no play is wrong. No...I am not talking about extracurricular activities like keg stands and shooters...I am talking about quirky and fun courses. Though Calculus, Biology, Public Speaking and Psychology 101 dominate the modern-day student's schedule, there are courses available to college co-eds that are far from ordinary. Forget the mundane, stuffy coursework--classes like "Art of Walking" at Kentucky's Centre College and “Underwater Basket Weaving" at Reed College embody a new definition of experiential learning. Inquiring collegians can become well-versed in random information from classes such as "Philosophy of Star Trek" at Georgetown University or the "Psychology of Facebook" at Stanford University--meanwhile generating great conversation starters.

Here are fifteen of the craziest college courses known to co-ed-kind:

THE CLASS: The American Vacation
THE UNIVERSITY: University of Iowa
This class is a trip--literally. At the University of Iowa, students can delve into how American families varying backgrounds shape their vacation experience. The class dives into American vacations at a very microscopic level with lectures on the social history of vacations, the cultural significance of contemporary vacationing patterns and the patterns of vacations based on race, class, gender. Enrolled students are expected to deconstruct your personal experiences on family vacations. I wouldn't mind researching Disneyland, Graceland or Grand Canyon... Would you?

THE CLASS: Disney in America
THE UNIVERSITY: University of Iowa
Think you can learn something from Mickey Mouse? Well the American Studies department at the University of Iowa does. The class, "Disney in America" drives to discover how the Walt Disney Corporation has influenced cultural ideology in America. The class recaps the evolution of Disney from its inception in the 1920s to modern day, as a gargantuan entertainment conglomerate. The coursework even exposes Hollywood's contributions to the pivotal moments in American history, like the Great Depression, World War II and the 1950s urban sprawl. Whoever thought Disney could be that interesting and complex?!

THE CLASS: Art of Walking
THE UNIVERSITY: Centre College in Danville, Kentucky
Undergrad philosophy courses can be extremely hum-drum with pretentious intellectuals. But at Kentucky's Centre College, Dr. Ken Keffer, Professor of Modern Languages, takes an approach to philosophy that is anything but ordinary. Publicized by the Chronicle of Higher Education, Dr. Keffer and his fleet of college students enrolled in "The Art of Walking" walk through to the area's natural gems and get deep. The goal of the class is to elicit free-flowing communication and learning simple philosophy by discovering new ways to view personal existence within natural beauty. Sounds like a walk in the park!

THE CLASS: Philosophy and Star Trek
THE UNIVERSITY: Georgetown University
According to Philosophy professors at Georgetown University "Star Trek is very philosophical." Who knew? Well, after reading the course description of this class, I am convinced that this legendary Hollywood flick may be able to teach students a lesson or two in philosophy. In this class, Georgetown University takes a uncommon approach to starting truth-seeking discussions of human nature by beginning with popular culture. This course is a platform to metaphysics and epistemology philosophy, centered around major philosophical questions that come up again and again in Star Trek--like, "Is time travel possible" and "Could reality be radically different from what "we" (I?) think?" Maybe this class is an excuse to repeatedly watch Star Trek, but either way--very cool class!

THE CLASS: Daytime Serials: Family and Social Roles
THE UNIVERSITY: The University of Wisconsin
Daytime soap opera-loving students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison need not fret about missing "Days of Our Lives" or "As the World Turns." Class 350 in the Women's Studies department offers a class on daytime soap operas--but (of course) with an educational twist. Students in this class are forced to dissect how soap operas affect gender issues of modern day. The class analyzes the themes and characters that populate television's daytime dramas, while investigating their social impact these gender roles in the family and in the work place.

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