One of the benefits of attending an undergraduate, liberal arts college is that students are often given chances to explore and engage with areas of study that they may have never come across otherwise. When choosing elective courses at Samford University, students are given opportunities to dive into all sorts of unique topics that they find interesting, and that professors who specialize in them are able to teach with passion.
Class registration for Fall 2023 is coming up soon, so here is a non-cumulative list of some of Samford’s most intriguing courses that will be available to students.
Fiction and Film (ENGL 205.01) is not only a course available to English majors, it can be adopted by a student of any other major seeking Humanities credit. In the past, several different professors at a time have taught Fiction and Film, with thematic concentrations ranging from the South, magical realism, and the Wilderness.
The course description details that these classes will include “close readings of literature and film in contexts that inform and are shaped by them.”
Several different professors will instruct Fiction and Film courses this fall, including professors Chris Metress, Lynnette Sandley and Olivia Evans.
Rediscovery/Classical World Classics (CLAS 200.01) is a course taught by Professor Shannon Flynt, and is also offered as a humanities credit. In it, students will explore the culture of ancient Greeks and Romans.
According to the Samford Portal: “This course examines multiple aspects of Classical Antiquity through the eyes of those who rediscovered it in literary texts, in works of art and architecture, and in its material remains.”
According to a student currently enrolled in the class, Cole Forman, each semester of CLAS 200 gives students the opportunity to mummify and bury their own chickens on Samford’s campus.
Last, and by far one of Samford’s quirkiest classes offered this fall, is “The Good Place” and Philosophy. This course is officially titled Philosophical Ethics (PHIL 314), and is taught by Professor Taylor Cyr, who advertised this new upcoming course in posters around campus and on his Instagram account followed by students and faculty.
“In this course, we will watch the NBC Sitcom “The Good Place” and explore several of the philosophical topics introduced by the show,” he explained in the course bio, “including what it means to be a good person, how popular ethical theories say we should live, and whether immortality is desirable.”
On his Instagram, Cyr let students know that Fall 2023 will likely be his last time teaching this course.
Staff Writer
