Although the process of determining class schedules certainly gets easier with experience, even fourth-years have trouble picking interesting courses outside of their major. Unfortunately, the chaos of SIS can often blur the excitement of course selection. With only four years to spare as an undergraduate student, there is limited time to take advantage of all the engaging classes the University offers. Below are a few interesting courses which may have slipped under your radar while crafting your schedule for this semester.
1. Technosonics (MUSI 2350)
As digital music becomes increasingly popular Professor Christopher Burtner’s course, which addresses the history, theory and practice of digital music and sound art, has gained new recognition among the student body.
Since the class’ introduction in 2006, it has evolved to incorporate more interactive media in the classroom. For example, students with access to smartphones can use certain apps during class to input data that is then synthesized into a single audio-visual display.
Additionally, students actually learn to compose music as a part of discussion sections. While the lecture provides a historical and theoretical base, discussions are comparable to a lab environment, in which students become familiar with the software tools and develop compositional skills in a smaller classroom setting. Such circumstances are rare for introductory, non-major music classes and would otherwise require years of training.
“Creating original work from scratch using your own skills and imagination is part of being a human,” Burtner said.
The course samples a diverse selection of music from across the world and from a variety of genres and artists. If you missed your chance to enroll in the course, the TechnoSonics Festival on Oct. 17 and 18, during which international musicians will showcase their work in the field.
“Creating original work from scratch using your own skills and imagination is part of being a human,” Burtner said.
2. Introduction to Urban and Environmental Planning (PLAN 1010)
Though PLAN 1010 recently became a required course for all Architecture majors, the A-School is leaving its doors open, letting students of all schools enroll in one of the program’s most popular courses.
The course begins by painting a picture of both the history and current state of the planning industry as portrayed in magazines and then progresses towards addressing the challenges faced by planners in cities, particularly sustainability.
“Planning is about cities – how they are, what they could be – and about how people can respond to some of cities’ most pressing concerns such as climate, poverty and policy issues,” Professor Timothy Beatley said.
Beatley, who has been teaching the course for 15 years, has designed a class that is both visual and experiential. Slides, video clips and photos are incorporated into case studies, while local field trips include the Green Roof, U.Va. Community Gardens, the DELL Project on Grounds, Polyface Farm, the Food Hub and even a bicycle tour.
“All students are going to be citizens living in communities,” Beatley said. “This class gets them thinking about how or where they want to live and engages students in what that urban future may be like. This class is about connecting student to place, environment and to city.”
3. Arab History at the Movies (HIME 3571)
Have you wanted to immerse yourself in a culture but have been unable to because of a language barrier? Professor Elizabeth Thompson addresses this problem in her course, Arab History at the Movies by using Arab movies – with English subtitles – to orient students within regional history.
Students in HIME 3751 gain insight into pertinent topics, such as revolution in Egypt, by watching international films, reading pertinent texts and interacting with scholars and filmmakers themselves. In October, for example, an Egyptian film-maker will allow students to preview her film after which a Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies Professor and a Media Studies Professor will share their personal insight.
“[We are] interested in the way we could see movies as shaping political behavior,” Thompson said. “Movies are texts we can access and pick for ourselves, so there’s an [artistic] aspect to it.”
4. Introduction to Theatre (DRAM 1010)
Think theatre is only for actors? Think again.
This course is an entrance to the world of theatre: acting and performing, directing, playwriting and producing. All those interested will be behind, around and on center stage.
A variety of students – from first years to fourth years from all schools and majors – have enrolled in the course. No prerequisites are required – just a readiness to learn about theatre.
“This class…is out of the norm,” Garey said. “Normally, Introduction to Theatre courses are lectures, history. This class departures from that. It is extremely interactive and fast paced.”
Taught by two professors – Cady Garey and Denise Stewart, both former U.Va. Graduate Students – the course offers a balanced approach to the field. Stewart’s specializes in playwriting while Garey specializes in acting.
Throughout the semester, students will attend productions both as audience members and backstage observers, hear from playwright guest speakers and interact with actors with Master of Fine Arts degrees.
“[The crafter of the class] really wanted [DRAM 1010] to be a class that draws people into the department and theatre,” Stewart said.
5. Studies in Poetry: Lyric Poetry (ENLT 2523)
It’s easy to forget poetry isn’t just love and pain rhyming on a page. The genre, also home to Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” epic poems such as “the Iliad” and many of Shakespeare’s verses, can also command the attention of readers interested in drama and adventure.
“[Lyric poetry] is a fairly short poem – fewer than, say, 50 lines – in which the speaker expresses an emotion or state of mind or relates a [usually] intense perception,” Professor Stephen Arata said.
Arata, this semester’s Lyric Poetry professor, has taught English for 23 years. The course introduces lyric poetry by teaching its form and history. Throughout the semester, students read numerous poems aloud in class and at home and then discuss the content, form and meaning of what they read.
Though the course teaches poetry by the most popular methods, it also makes use of new approaches to poetry. An interactive digital learning tool, called “For Better or Verse,” provides students with the means to describe the rhythmic patterns in poetry. The tool was developed by U.Va. English professor Herbert Tucker.
“The course is designed, I hope, to entice those who may be wary of or uncomfortable with poetry,” Arata said. “Poetry-phobia is a common condition in our culture, but it is easily treatable.”
6. Ecofeminism (WSG 3559)
This new course explores the unique interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities, specifically targeting the role of women as progressive environmental thinkers throughout the 20th century.
What exactly is ecofeminism? The course is grounded in the fundamental idea that the degradation of our planet and the historical oppression of women are inherently linked. The course is designed for students who may not know much about the environment, but are concerned and motivated to learn more about how to act with agency. Through exposure to various theories, praxis and art, students will learn about women who have been responsible for articulating several relevant issues in the environmental movement.
“It’s very important for young people to start grasping these issues, because in your lifetime they will be affecting you,” Professor Kendra Hamilton said.
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