We at The Maroon realize early registration is an intense period of serious reflection and self-doubt.
Instead of blindly scrambling for a schedule for the upcoming fall semester, consider a few classes recommended by your fellow Loyola students with a little help from your friendly informants at professor ratings Web site RateMyProfessor.com. In fact, we’ll assemble a custom-made 15-hour schedule just for you, and we’ll even throw in a few extra classes just in case you think you might turn into the ambitious 21-hours-a-semester student you tried to be last semester.
Pat yourself on the back for getting through some of your common curriculum requirements, but now you’ve got to get your foot in the college-experience door.
For a dose of the arts, try MUGN V174 World Music, a class that business administration sophomore Stan Broussard said made him “appreciate more music than what’s just around here.”
“It made me appreciate music around the world,” he said.
The mysterious Professor James Walsh is without any rating on RateMyProfessors.com, but Broussard gave him a solid approval.
Now you need to fill out some of your humanities and natural sciences credits. They’re not going anywhere while you stare at your OnCourse guide all night. If you want something interesting enough to keep your attention span above the critical level, try PHIL V178 Philosophy of God, recommended by psychology pre-med junior Eric Brown.
“The class is really open-ended, and there’s no pressure to do assignments,” said Brown.
Loyola’s 2006-2007 Undergraduate Bulletin says topics for discussion include atheism, agnosticism, theism and the process of philosophy.
RateMyProfessors.com gives professor Father David Boileau a heavenly 3.8 rating.
If you want more a more philosophical challenge, music industries studies junior Jared Marcell suggests PHIL V177 Mind and Machines.
“I’d recommend you work a lot harder than I did,” Marcell said. “But the class makes for good philosophical debate when at a good social gathering.”
Though you’ll need a serious work ethos to take the class, Marcell said it’s guaranteed to make you a well-rounded person. “But it’s not something to take just to fill in your schedule.”
According to Loyola’s bulletin, this course focuses on the structures and nature of human consciousness, with criteria developed through computer models in artificial intelligence programs.
RateMyProfessors.com gives Professor Robert Briscoe a generous 4.1 rating.
After all that philosophical debate you might need a chance to gripe, so flex your verbal muscles with ENGL A312 Writing Poetry, recommended by English writing senior Larissa Nash. According to Loyola’s bulletin, this course focuses on the form and theory of the genre in a workshop format with regular student-and-professor conferences.
To cap off those liberal arts mind openers, give a shot at some business methods with the practical MKT B280 Basic Marketing course, suggested by psychology senior Jason Seidman.
“It’s amazing,” he said.
The course teaches students to understand the role of marketing from a managerial perspective and examines how product, pricing, promotion, and distribution decisions are made for specific target markets, according to Loyola’s bulletin. Students also study the impacts of political, legal, competitive, socio-cultural, technological and economic environments on marketing.
Professors Alan Hickman and Michael Pearson received extremely marketable scores of 4.0 and 4.9, respectively, from raters on RateMyProfessors.com. Pearson received an additional chili pepper, for those interested in business other than marketing.
Welcome yourself into the College of Social Sciences with a little political science fundamentals. Psychology senior Amanda Dubourg recommends POLS A100 Intro to American Government “to all Loyola students. It’s full of information that is not only interesting, but is also relevant to all of our lives,” she said. Loyola’s bulletin says the course emphasizes structure, development, powers and limits of the federal government.
“It’s a great class, because it covers not only the facts but also incorporates some theory,” Dubourg said.
Its professor, Edward Renwick received a popular vote of 4.0 according to raters on RateMyProfessors.com.
This should turn you to some idea of a direction. Whether or not it’s the right one is for you to figure out. We’re just journalists, people.
Alex Woodward can be reached at [email protected].
