UNC offers niche, interest-specific classes

UNC students have long been fulfilling their general education requirements through 'classic' courses, but after taking mainstay electives and major courses, students may find themselves looking for something a little more specific and niche.

As registration for the spring semester trucks on, here's schedule inspiration for next semester and beyond.

Religious Studies 246: Supernatural Encounters: Zombies, Vampires, Demons and the Occult in the Americas

Taught within the Department of Religious Studies, this class examines stories of ghouls, monsters and occult practices through both a religious and political lens. It studies the symbolism and execution of supernatural American tales as reflective of attempts to understand the real world.

Communication Studies 85: Think, Speak, Argue

This course is a first-year seminar and is very broad, focusing on students' development of critical thinking and persuasive speech skills. The third part of the class name, “argue,” refers to its emphasis on debate throughout the semester. 

Dramatic Art 156: Physical Comedy, Farce Techniques and Clown

This is a class within UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art. It teaches a number of elements of the art of clown and related comedic theater techniques. 

“The first half of the semester is basically just comedy techniques,” Julia Finke, a UNC senior and former teaching assistant for the class, said.

She added that the second half of the semester is clown, which can be different than what people expect and entails getting to put your inner child onstage and live in the present.

Aside from the physical comedy element of the class, the 'clown' element bears most of the weight of the course’s materials.

“The other half of the class, which is dedicated to clown, works on a completely different spectrum,” UNC associate professor Tracy Bersley said. “There’s nothing planned. It’s all about standing in your vulnerability as a clown on stage, just really, truly being yourself, exposing yourself.”

Biology 221: Seafood Forensics

Biology 221: Seafood Forensics focuses on the usage of forensic techniques and DNA tracking to evaluate seafood mislabelling. Class discussion centers around human health and environmental conservation.

Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures 212: “Game of Thrones” and the Worlds of the European Middle Ages

This is a class in UNC’s Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literature. The course examines the basis of the “Game of Thrones” TV show and "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series in the culture and aesthetics of the European Middle Ages, through a lens of identity, representation, politics and mythology.

Astronomy 103: Alien Life in the Universe

Astronomy 103: Alien Life in the Universe is a class that endeavors to provide some context for the question of alien reality. This astronomy course provides several different viewpoints and scientific methods to analyze the possibility of alien life — and where it might be found.

Anthropology 125: Canine Cultures

This anthropology class introduces the basic concepts of anthropology through an examination of human-canine relations over time. The topics involved in the course include the evolution of canine domestication, dogs’ roles in society and the values and politics associated with the dog-human relationship. 

English 244: Queer Cinema

This is a class within the Department of English and Comparative Literature's film studies program. The film analysis course examines several films through the lens of queer identities, from the perspective of authorship, audience and representation. 

“Cinema is both a mirror and a window,” UNC associate professor Martin Johnson, who teaches the class, said. “So, we can see it often reflects what's happening in society, but it also provides a window into it. So we see ourselves, but we also see things that are different from ourselves.” 

He said the queer cinema class does not limit its course materials only to films made by those within the LGBTQ+ community, but examines the impacts and reasoning behind the historical adoption of such films as 1950’s "All About Eve" into the queer film canon. 

Some of these classes are being taught in the spring semester, so check ConnectCarolina for their availability.

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