Have some extra room in your schedule and need to fill a few credit hours? Want to take a break from your major and enroll in an unusual class? These fun and interesting courses will let you mix up your routine, learn a new skill or explore one of your passions.
School of Arts and Letters
1. ENG 280: Film Form and Sense
Credits: 3
Professors: Shannon Jumper, Brent Orton
This popular English course explores “cinema as a major force in contemporary culture,” according to the Truman State University General Catalog. Essentially, you watch movies in class and then analyze them. Perfect for any cinephile or Netflix-obsessed student.
2. MUSI 206: Perspectives in Music: Hollywood & Broadway
Credits: 3
Professor: Jacqueline Collett
Are soundtracks your favorite part of the movie? Love Broadway musicals? Perspectives in Music may be the class for you! Hollywood & Broadway isn’t the only section offered — you can also try out Classical, World Musics or Jazz and the American Experience.
3. THEA 276: Stage Makeup
Credits: 1 (with 2 credit hour lab)
Professor: Dominique Glaros
Take your Halloween costume to the next level with a course with a course in stage makeup. Learn how to distort your face with everything from age makeup to scars to prosthetics. Your Facebook pictures of you with a broken nose and split lip are sure to scare your relatives!
4. ENG 204: Creative Writing
Credits: 3
Professors: Jocelyn Cullity, Edward Rogers, James D’Agostino, Joseph Benevento, Jennifer Creer
Craft your award-winning novel and find your inner poet with the English department’s creative writing course. Everyone’s got a story to tell and here’s your chance to write it!
School of Science and Mathematics
5. AGSC 152: Horsemanship Level I
Credits: 1
Professor: Emily Costello
Who doesn’t want to spend an hour a week riding horses around the University Farm? In Horsemanship you learn “equitation, basic maneuvers” and “showmanship” of horses. This class is insanely popular but if you can get in, it easily could be the best class of your semester.
6. PHYS 131: Introduction to Astronomy
Credits: 4
Professor: Vayujeet Gokhale
Love space? Can’t get enough of the night sky? Need to fulfill your physical science mode? With Introduction to Astronomy you’ll explore topics such as the “classification of stars and galaxies,” and have labs where you look through telescopes and draw constellations. Don’t be afraid of the physics prefix — the course is based on algebra, not calculus.
School of Health Sciences and Education
7. ES 151: Irish Ceili Dance
Credits: 1
Professor: Christine Harker
If you’re destined for “So You Think You Can Dance,” start your training right now with the exercise science department’s dance classes! There are different courses offered every semester, such as Beginning Tap Dance and Beginning Jazz Dance.
Bonus Course
PD 312: Basic Aviation
Credits: 3
Professor: Mark Thompson
If getting your pilot’s license is on your bucket list, start right here with Basic Aviation. The course will prepare you for a life in the air, with topics such as “civil air regulations, theory of flight,” and “meteorology.”
What fun and interesting classes have you taken during your time at Truman? Let us know what courses you would add to this list in the comments.