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Since becoming an upperclassman, I’m having an absolute ball going through the electives in the Syracuse University catalog. From pottery to beer and wine tasting courses, I’m thrilled that SU has a slew of options to make your parents go, “Wait, that’s what you’re gonna be paying off for 30 years?”

However, there are so many more opportunities for SU to extend its already stacked list of elective options. I mean, we have about a million different academic buildings. I’d also be willing to host a class or two in my off-campus house. So, if any SU professors are reading this, reach out to me if you’d be interested in teaching any of these courses. I have absolutely no experience in designing curriculum and I can’t pay you, but maybe we could take some of these ideas to the higher-ups.

I have quite a few friends abroad this semester, so I feel like an elective explaining how the hell time zones work could be very helpful. I mean, what do you mean it’s 4:41 p.m. here and 9:41 p.m. in England? Makes absolutely no sense. One of my good friends is abroad currently and I accidentally call her at 2 a.m. all the time. I mean, she’s abroad in New York City, so it’s really just because I have a habit of sleep talking and saying, “Siri, Call Ashley,” but it would still be nice to understand why it’s literally afternoon here and morning in Hong Kong.

Since the people abroad get to eat great cuisine, I feel as though the students here at SU also need to have some positive culinary experiences. We already have beer and wine-tasting classes, maybe we could have food tasting classes. No, not cooking classes. Just tasting classes. We could call it “The Ecology of Syracuse Food” or something like that. Basically, the university could just give the professor money to get food from different restaurants around Syracuse, then the professor could give us that food. And we could eat it. And, hey, maybe we could write a Yelp review or something. It’s fueling the economy and also giving these companies business!

Remember having a study hall in high school? In the middle of the day, maybe before or after lunch, there was a period where you could go and do whatever you wanted. Sure, maybe study hall isn’t really necessary in college since we’re adults and have our own autonomy, but I’ve really been craving the nostalgia of a good high school study hall lately. I’m not really sure what the curriculum of this would look like, but maybe we could have a contest for whoever sticks the highest amount of chewed gum pieces under the desks?

One other elective I’d most definitely want to take: some sort of sociology class breaking down the age-old question … how on earth are you supposed to interact with your acquaintances on campus? You know, people like your roommate’s boyfriend’s friend that you follow on Instagram and also maybe had an earth science lecture with, but you never found out for sure, because HOW DO YOU TALK TO THESE PEOPLE IN PASSING? It’s a question we could all use the answer to: how many degrees of separation do you have to be away from someone to wave at them in the library? Please, get a professor on this.

I hope that these course ideas were a nice refresher, possibly an escape from whatever not-as-fun elective you’re taking now. I’m not sure when they’re developing the course catalog for spring 2025. But if any program directors want to reach out to me, I’ll be in Bird Library developing the syllabus for YUM 105: Taste Testing Every Menu Item From Pastabilities.

Published on September 5, 2024 at 12:00 am

Contact Sarah: sswells@syr.edu