For two units, Jane Kim puts aside her international development studies major and dances to the latest hip-hop music. But she says this course, “Beginning Hip Hop Funkamentals,” is more than just dancing.
The course teaches not only the moves, but also a variety of perspectives on black culture in America, focusing on the history of social dancing.
Kim, a first-year, is one of many students who take UCLA’s offbeat courses outside of their major. Students said they take these courses to learn about something different from their field of studies, meet General Education requirements, give them more time to study their major subjects, or to improve their grade point averages.
With courses ranging from yoga to “Yo Ho, Yo Ho: Pirate Narratives of the Long 18th Century,” UCLA has developed a curriculum that may at first seem unconventional. Alongside their major requirements, students can take courses on such diverse topics as stage combat or space weather.
But some students said these courses are more useful than they might seem at first glance.
“I think you can get a lot out of just stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things you’re not experienced in,” Kim said.
Sharon Carmona, a first-year neuroscience student, said her major was causing her a lot of stress until she took a tai chi class for extra credit.
She said World Arts and Cultures 10, “Beginning Tai Chi,” provided a welcome break from her major subject. Students learn the 24 forms of tai chi movements and are graded on performance.
“It’s really hard to adapt to university from high school. This was a stress-reliever class,” Carmona said.
And Adam Arsenault, a first-year economics student, said he believes these classes sometimes provide unique learning experiences. During a discussion in Community Health Sciences 179 on relationship problems, Arsenault said he found himself emotionally moved and brought to tears.
Though the course is designed to help students improve their personal relations and become comfortable with their identities, Arsenault said he originally signed up for the class because he believed it would boost his GPA.
“I mainly benefited from it by getting an A, which my GPA desperately needed,” he said.
But, at the same time, he said the class helped students cope with personal problems.
“Certain days, you could tell that it really meant something to some people,” he said.
Some students said less-conventional classes helped them explore cultures and languages in ways that might not be possible in more conventional majors, and can often be valuable for more reasons than just filling requirements.
Krystle Remmen, a second-year geology student, said she took “Gay and Lesbian Perspectives in Pop Music” this quarter to meet GE requirements, but also because she is a huge Madonna fan.
The course studies how gays and lesbians have influenced popular culture and how this has created social change.
She said taking a course on unconventional concepts had made her open to alternative ways of viewing the world.
“It’s an interesting subculture to follow ““ gay and lesbian people have influenced everything in our society so much. It was extremely fascinating from the first day,” she said.
Remmen added students shouldn’t ignore courses like these just because they are not part of their majors.
“Universities are there to push the edge, and to be more explorative of different subjects,” she said.