By Melissa Mahoney
Everyday in the backstage area of New College Theatre, a group of friends sit around and talk. Topics range from everything from movies and music to books to theatre, and eventually the conversation gets around to classes. While some are complaining about a certain professor or the seven-page paper they have due the next day, a few are talking about serial killers.
Serial killers is the subject of a class that is currently being taught at New College, and many of the students who are in both New College and the main campus wish they could take the class, but they didn’t know about the course or it didn’t fit into their schedule.
“I wish I knew about these classes when I was making my schedule last semester,” said Tasha Hadad, a freshman Film and Radio major. “I would love to take a class where you learn something you normally don’t think about.”
New College is often over-looked when it comes time to scheduling classes for the next semester, but it offers some of the most unusual classes on campus. Professor Lois Kern of New College is offering two unique classes this semester called “Embracing the Monster” and “Dark Dominions.”
“I think [these classes] break boundaries and get people to look at culture in other ways. They’re to take a look at things we normally turn or cloud away from and to ultimately better understand ourselves,” Professor Kern said.
“Embracing the Monster” is the class covers which serial killers from “The London Monster” and Jack the Ripper to the more recent killers like Ted Bundy and Ed Gein. The class is made up of reading about the real historical figures and watching movies of fictionalized killers. It also looks into why our culture is obsessed with these types of movies and stories along with theories on why serial killers kill.
New College is also offering “Dark Dominions” for the fourth session. “Dark Dominions” is a focus on vampires, werewolves, and zombies-the connection between folkloric representations of these entities and their depiction in popular culture vehicles.
“When I hear about all the different classes at Hofstra I wish they offered them at my school,” said Michael Brown, a computer engineering major at North Carolina State.
Other universities across the country also offer courses on unusual subjects. Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, offers a course called “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” In this course, students look at how magic, witchcraft and their associated religions and beliefs affect the way the politics, costumes and economics of the area.
Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts, offers classes like “Magic and Witchcraft in early modern Europe” and “Philosophy of Love and Sex”. “Magic and Witchcraft in early modern Europe” is a look at the European “witch craze” and how the scientific revolution was thought to bring about the decline in magic practices. “Philosophy of Love and Sex” is a look into the different forms of sexuality and erotica, including studying pornography.
UCLA also offers some interesting class options. In Three Trials, students learn about the trials of Socrates, Jesus and Joan of Arc and compare them. UCLA also offers a course that studies Greek and Roman Magic.
There are alternatives to the usual courses if you know where to look, and the New College office on the second floor of Roosevelt Hall is just the place to start.