<p>Folks are always recommending that students balance their schedules to preserve their sanity/GPA, and make sure to take a fun, easy class every semester. Obviously what’s fun and easy varies by individual, but I’d love to see some recommendations of those fun, easy classes that you (or your kids) have taken. I’ve found some recommendations scattered throughout various threads, but it would be nice to collect a list of them in a single thread. Thanks!</p>
<p>Good idea…</p>
<p>and it might help if in addition to naming a class, include time committment, and how much reading and writing is req’d.</p>
<p>ARt History 253 online class - significant time commitment but for the most part you can do the work when you can fit it in, except for weekly journal & tests.</p>
<p>I was just about to start this thread as registration will be in a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in hearing about fun/easy Honors courses. I see several 1 credit courses with interesting topics, but I am guessing some are more time consuming than others.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve noticed the 1 credit Common Book Experience classes and wondered how they’re graded/how much work is involved. Are there any grade distribution requirements at Alabama? If so you could run into problems with all the geniuses in the honors classes!</p>
<p>My S took MUS121 (intro to listening) during his first semester. It’s a three credit class, that involves going to class 1 hour per week, and attending 4 on-campus concerts during the semester. There are a couple of quizzes during the semester - - not too difficult according to my S. And if you have Kevin Woosley as the prof, he gives many, many extra credit opportunities. (look on ratemyprofessors.com , the reviews for this course are very accurate)</p>
<p>This easy 3-credit A+ was a great GPA booster. The only negative… it was Friday 8:00 am.</p>
<p>My son took a Common Book Experience a couple of years ago. He really enjoyed the class. Had to write a couple of short papers. Really enjoyed his professor, too.</p>
<p>MUS 121 looks fun - my S would love it. It doesn’t count towards any requirements, though, does it? (Especially for an engineering major?)</p>
<p>I took a UH 120 that wasn’t technically a CBE, but was about a book. It was very relaxed and engaging, and ended in October.</p>
<p>I’m currently taking EN 220, which is Honors American Lit II. It’s really, really fun. It’s a discussion class and very laid back. My particular section requires daily reading journals and in-class reading quizzes, but those along with participation are 30% of your grade… so it’s largely just showing up. We had a really easy midterm, and still have two papers and a final. I have Fred Whiting and he is AWESOME. This is legitimately my favorite class (and I’m in 19 hours, so that’s significant), and I’d highly recommend it/him if you need lit credit.</p>
<p>A lot of American studies classes are on really interesting topics. I’m taking a popular humor class right now and it’s cool. I will say that my two favorite classes are easily my discussion ones (lit and political theory) though, so UH seminars would probably be the first choice for something fun since they’re all small.</p>
<p>As a general rule, you automatically care more about the class and get more out of it when it’s interactive.</p>
<p>@wdaveo - MUS121 counts as a Fine Arts (FA) credit. My S is an engineering major also.</p>
<p>If Mus121 counts as a Fine Arts, then an Engineering major can use it towards Core Req’t of 9 credits of humanities. Most eng’g majors don’t HAVE to take a FA class, but if they do, they can count it towards Humanities. Other majors do have to take at least 3 credits of FA.</p>
<p>Eng’g Core Req’ts Humanities:
9 semester hours of humanities (HU), literature (L) and fine arts (FA) area courses. A 6-hour discipline depth study is required and may be taken in either HU, L, and FA or HI and SB. There are no mandatory general education requirements for literature or fine arts, except as required for a specific engineering program.</p>
<p>And…BTW…for sure it does count for FA</p>
<pre><code>MUS 121 Introduction to Listening FA
</code></pre>
<p><a href=“http://registrar.ua.edu/academics/core-curriculum/general-studies/#tab=tab-2[/url]”>http://registrar.ua.edu/academics/core-curriculum/general-studies/#tab=tab-2</a></p>
<p>Thanks a lot for that recommendation, wake! MSC 121 is exactly what I was looking for to round out my schedule.</p>
<p>My son thought Art History 253 was going to be easy as pie, but he has trouble memorizing the slides because, he says, he’s “not visual.” He got a 94 on the first test, but he claims that was only because it was open book. (The others won’t be.)</p>
<p>His favorite class continues to be Latin, but I think that’s partly because of the social aspect. He says the classics community at UA is like family.</p>
<p>Oh…I agree…Art History isn’t easy. Between memorizing artists, eras, names of paintings, symbolism, etc…those classes can be brutal.</p>
<p>LadyDianesky, is he taking the online version of that art class? That’s the one DD is in. She says she is already familiar with the artists of that era thanks to her European History class in high school. My recollection is that this was a recommended “easy” class from last year!</p>
<p>How about a dance class ?</p>
<p>fun/easy honors course? UH 210 - fine arts of tuscaloosa. you meet twice a week and go to various “arts” functions around tuscaloosa and write 1 page papers on each. also counts for a FA credit.</p>
<p>In the same vein as fauxmaven, there are a number of 1-credit Kinesiology classes in different styles of dance or sport instruction (beginner’s tennis, racquetball, soccer, running, etc) that I’ve heard good things about from friends who took volleyball and hip-hop dance.</p>
<p>LadyDi, can your son recommend any good latin classes for an incoming freshman who has taken AP Latin? I love how you say the classics community is like a family. That is what I am hoping for for my D. She is thinking about double majoring in english and spanish and minoring in Latin. I hope that’s possible.</p>
<p>in line with crazyinalabama11’s post, son is currently taking a one hour racketball class, for “fun”. What was supposed to be fun is now worrying him because he has a B in the class (missed one test question on what is the difference between a forehand and a backhand -this is the kid that is an avid tennis player since 4 years old/HS team captain).
He made the president’s list last semester and was on track again this semester with all A’s in his other classes. Hopefully he will work this out. He won’t be taking another “fun” class unless required by his major.</p>