<p>Hi,
I am an incoming freshman in Pratt. I want some recommendations of classes that are interesting, inspiring, thought-provoking, or just weird in some way. I think that already rules out introductory classes that are breadth-focused big classes. In particular, I want some courses in social sciences/humanities area to fulfill my general requirement. I have AP credits in USH, psychology, human geo, micro and macro (though they will only transfer two) but I think I can skip intro courses in these areas. However, I'm also interested in other areas such as sociology. By the way, the courses you recommend don't necessarily be easy. Just not too demanding is OK because my focus needs to be put in science and engineering courses, which are supposedly to be much harder.
Thank you.</p>
<p>bump…anyone?</p>
<p>Neurosci 267 (neuroethics) is my favorite class in the two years I’ve been here. It’s team taught by a neuroscientist (Scott Huettel) and a philosopher (Walter Sinnott-Armstrong), both of whom are highly regarded in their respective fields. Every lecture was fascinating, but it helps to have some neuroscience background. The course was inherently interdisciplinary as it applied neuroscience to economics, philosophy, morality, politics, etc. When you get here, just talk to people and you’ll quickly get a feel of what classes suit your interests.</p>
<p>Take Dean Wilson’s American Dreams, American Realities! It’s a history course, so prob not what you are looking for, but it’s supposed to be light and upbeat and Dean Wilson is a character!</p>
<p>My Pratt son is also interested in social psychology. Have you looked into the Focus clusters? There are a few that seem like they would be good for you!</p>
<p>I took SOC132A Methods in Social Research with Brady a couple years ago and I thought that was a fantastic course. A whole new perspective on research dealing mostly with human subjects and cultural topics, completely different from the basic science/engineering research that I was pursuing at the time. It’s a fair amount of work, but not overwhelming and certainly I think the grading was objective and more than fair which should reassure an engineer.</p>
<p>@SBR, I noticed that the in the new course number system, it is a 300-level course, which is supposedly open only to upperclassmen in sociology. Can Pratt students take that course? In addition, are there any prerequisites to the course? I found none on the course description but I suspect that there may be some.</p>
<p>no prereqs when I took it. May be worth it to email the prof directly and ask. Brady is a nice guy and wouldn’t mind talking with students.</p>