You’ve signed your life away to the doldrums of summer school – while friends wile away the hours in the summer sun or make extra money at a part-time job, your soul withers away in windowless classrooms with fluorescent lights – all for the sake of a few credits.
But summer school can be more fruitful than you’d imagine. Besides fuilfilling a few requirements, DU also offers summer classes that can help students discover new hobbies, new countries, new themes in favorite books or movies and even background knowledge for the Presidential debate in the fall.
Summer registration opened last week and closes June 24, except for some earlier interterm classes.
However, the priority deadline for summer financial aid is May 11, so if you are considering summer classes, check out these gems and log on to webCentral to register.
Hobbies:
Whether you are into music or art, or just trying something new, DU has fun ways to earn credit while getting creative.
Branch out from your Instagram app with ART 3701 – Art of Cell Phone Photography or make your creativity public with ARTD 3700 – Topics in Electronic Media Arts & Design: Digital Billboards, where students create videos to be showcased on the giant digital billboard in downtown Denver.
Both classes do have the traditional lab fee of $100 and Digital Billboards requires a couple of prerequisites. But they do provide useful real-world skills, such as training in Final Cut Pro video editing software.
Plus, imagine how impressive it would be to put a billboard on your resume – or your Facebook profile pic.
If strumming on your groupies’ heartstrings is more your style, jam out in MUAC 3090 – Produce Your Own Music CD and MUAC 3091 – How to Write Your Own Songs.
In “Produce Your Own Music CD,” learn the step-by-step process of selecting songs, recording, mastering, manufacturing, and financing your debut album, right down to designing the cover art.
If you haven’t yet found your Grammy-winning muse, “How to Write Your Own Songs” combines melodies and chord progressions with lyrics to help mold your own earbud-bumping hook. Both classes are two credits.
For the 21-and-up crowd, become a wine connoisseur with HRTM 3000 – Wines of the World. If you’ll be missing the summer class, it will also be offered in the fall with a $135 lab fee.
For other food fanatics, learn about other cultures and new ways to satisfy your stomach with INTS 3701 – Urban Farming and COMM 3701 – Food and Intercultural Communication.
Pop culture:
Your friends may be out catching Florence and the Machine at Red Rocks, but show them up by reading up on pop culture phenomena in your classes.
Another COMM 3700 listing, “Monsters in Pop Culture,” allows you to explore your scary side, while HIST 2955 – Latin America at the Movies provides a tamer look at film.
For book worms, try ASEM 2657 – Harry Potter and Esotericism, which takes a serious look at the merits of “magic” and its influence in culture, ranging in topic from history of magic and witchcraft to the mythic lore of botany.
Politics:
In addition to the summer “passport events” taking place on campus, DU is gearing up by offering Presidential campaign courses.
Join the rally with LSC 2415 – Presidential Debates, Campaigns and Elections, and INTS 3702 – Presidency in War and Peace, among other election-related classes offered. Topics in these classes can range from the process of elections to the theories behind how citizens and leaders engage with the law.
Travel:
There’s still time to register for some of the domestic travel courses offered in summer interterm, which takes place June 10 to 17.
Travel to Washington, D.C. to learn about power and politics in PPOL 3701 – Getting Results Inside the Beltway.
The class includes one-on-one conversations with policy makers about economic issues – but hurry, today is the last day to register.
Other travel courses include FIN 3700/4700 – Derivatives and Risk Management, which takes students to Chicago to interact with trading professionals and money managers from the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and MGMT 3700/4700 – Stress Management, which allows students to use managerial theories and practices in “balanced living” and “holistic health,” all in the comfort of Aspen.
Registration dates are May 10 and 11, respectively.
Although coming back to class can often be anything but exciting, branching out from your major and exploring other interests through electives can enrich your college experience – or just be a lot of fun.
