Published: Sept. 12, 2019 By

There鈥檚 no better time than college for expanding horizons and broadening knowledge. CU 麻豆影院 offers approximately 4,000 courses in 119 distinct fields of study. Many are routine. Some, however, delve into diverse and often unexpected topics.

A handful of CU 麻豆影院 classes stand out in the course catalog this fall. Here are a few.

CU 麻豆影院 classroom

CU 麻豆影院 students attending the first day of fall 2019 classes (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU 麻豆影院)

Game of Thrones: Survival

In this first-year political science seminar, freshman students learn how to survive the world of politics through the lens of the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. The course is taught by Adrian Shin, assistant professor of political science, who believes that our desire to survive heavily influences and motivates the policy decisions we make.

Design of Coffee

For senior level mechanical engineering majors looking for buzzworthy classes, the Design of Coffee course should hit the spot. Students learn about everything coffee, including the science behind farming techniques and the craftsmanship of brewing. The class offers hands-on lab experiments and ends in a competition to design the best tasting coffee in the most efficient way possible.

Music and Space

You may not realize it, but outer space is the inspiration for many artistic pieces. The course Music and Space examines out-of-this-world influences music, media and literature. Led by associate professor of musicology Jay Keister, students draw on case studies ranging from ancient Greece to today鈥檚 pop music.听

Environmental Cinema

In a world where our knowledge of the environment is always changing, Environmental Cinema students discover how filmmakers, writers and cinematographers creatively respond to new environmental discoveries and pressing issues. Lesson plans incorporate artists such as Wes Anderson, Percy Smith and Todd Haynes, and digs into how their works explore the environment.

Music of the Rock Era

Music of the Rock Era tunes in to the evolution of rock music from 1960 through the 1990s. The class investigates rock鈥檚 cultural impacts and traces the genre鈥檚 origins to earlier music styles, such as blues and folk.