This can be a bizarre truth about me, however I like to “class window store” on our PATH Class Search platform. All I basically do is flick through the totally different programs that Notre Dame gives every semester. I really like with the ability to see what area of interest subjects professors get enthusiastic about educating all through the educational departments. I lament that I can’t take each single class that pursuits me whereas balancing out my main, school, and college necessities. Nonetheless, in our senior spring semester, just a few of my mates and I’ve determined to enroll in just a few 1 credit score courses. A few of these 1 credit score courses solely meet as soon as every week and are normally evaluated on a Go/Fail foundation. I name them the “Finest Facet Quests”, since some college students could take it as a normal elective however be taught a lot over the course of the semester. Listed here are three courses I can spotlight that may pique your curiosity!
1. THEO 30609: C.S. Lewis on God, Evil, Advantage & Vice
Most college students have grown up with, or not less than aware of, C.S. Lewis’s beloved sequence The Chronicles of Narnia. That was to the extent of what I knew about him anyway. So, you may’t think about how ecstatic I used to be after I noticed that Professor William Mattison was providing this course. Primarily based on the attendance of the primary few courses, I’m glad I wasn’t the one one! The auditorium was packed, to the purpose the place a few of us wanted to take a seat on the steps or stand with a purpose to hear Professor Mattison’s lecture. There are roughly 460 of us who come to DeBartolo on Monday evening, and protected to say this has positively been my largest class. We’re primarily learning Lewis’s Screwtape Letters but additionally analyze some segments of his different works reminiscent of Mere Christianity and The Nice Divorce. It’s a bit difficult to do an entire group dialogue with everybody, so we’re given time to do journal reflections and converse with the individuals sitting subsequent to us. As a ultimate evaluation of the course, we get to acceptable our very personal Screwtape Letter, which I’m wanting ahead to as a little bit of artistic writing. I additionally admire the extra ecumenical strategy to the category relatively than a strict Catholic or Anglican view, so I’ve been capable of have discussions with each my Catholic and Protestant mates alike. It’s been such an enriching expertise to not simply be taught extra about God’s character and His relationship with us by C.S. Lewis’s perspective, but additionally how we are able to apply it to our personal lives as Christians.
2. IRLL 10900/1: Irish Dance
In true Notre Dame trend, Irish research are supplied to be taught extra concerning the nation’s historical past, language and tradition. For individuals who are keen to select up a brand new talent, Notre Dame gives an Irish Dance class each semester. For my buddy Sam Rush, she thought that it was the quintessential manner so as to add some enjoyable in our final semester of senior 12 months. Irish Dance is open to all ranges of expertise so even in case you have two left toes they’re keen to show you. She talked about that the category construction is all about studying by doing, so each Professor Shannon Dunne and the opposite pupil leaders undergo totally different social dances step-by-step every week. It’s additionally an added bonus to bounce with reside music by college students within the Irish Tin Whistle and Ceili Band courses. Sam talked about how affected person Professor Shannon is with every of her college students, saying that she felt fortunate to be taught from her. I personally received to attend certainly one of their social dance occasions one Thursday evening to observe each Sam and some different mates. I used to be so impressed by how a lot all of them already discovered inside only some weeks. I came upon that Irish Social Dancing really is social, particularly since companions change so usually through the dance. After I warmed as much as taking part with the remainder of the category, it was such a good time shifting round with each my mates and different individuals. To have the ability to chuckle at your self for getting the fallacious step is a part of the enjoyable.
“My favourite half concerning the class is spending time on my toes, studying one thing that’s not in a textbook. It’s such a pleasant reprieve from learning and it helps clear my head” – Sam Rush, ‘25
3. EALC 30002: Chinese language Calligraphy
I’m an enormous fan of hand lettering, even after I was youthful. If I didn’t have a category scheduling battle, I’d have registered for Chinese language Calligraphy with Professor Jincheng Liu in a heartbeat. Fortunately although, I get to reside vicariously by my buddy Emma Speyrer who’s taking the category. For her, enrolling in Chinese language Calligraphy was her manner of lastly selecting a enjoyable elective after an entire school profession of taking predetermined engineering courses. It gave her numerous consolation to know that there have been loads of different college students who had been novices at each the language and calligraphy. Apart from the hands-on work, Emma talked about that the category all the time begins with a lecture about both the historical past of Mandarin characters in addition to its modernization or the artwork of calligraphy and its supplies. She described Professor Liu to be very passionate concerning the craft, all the time strolling across the classroom to assist anybody who wants it. Many analog artforms like hand calligraphy are element oriented and tedious, so Emma stated that the category has taught her quite a bit about endurance in the way in which she carries out the strategies that she learns. I’m personally wanting ahead to viewing their mini exhibition each time it’s after spring break!
That is simply the tip of the iceberg by way of all the good courses you get to take at Notre Dame. Whether or not it’s fulfilling a requirement or simply for enjoyable, you may by no means cease studying one thing new. So, what class do you wanna be a part of subsequent semester?
