6 Cool Electives to Take Outside Your Major

Listen, I know what it’s like to get tired of your major. Half way through my psychology major, taking four psych courses a semester because they were only offered once a year, was not a good time. And the English major was no exception; I loved the courses, but you can only read so many poems in a month before you start dramatizing everything. Sometimes, with courses and every other facet of our lives, breaks are necessary.

So take a semester off and do something fun. If you’ve found that you’re spending all your time thinking about atoms, ductility, and elasticity, buy some brushes and sign up for a painting class. If you’ve found your time being taken up by Henry the VIII and his dead wives, why not learn Freud’s psychodynamic theory.

Just remember: your undergrad is only four years (best case scenario) of your life. Yes, you want to get your degree so you can move onto different things (like grad school!), but you want to enjoy the time you spend here. So take something fun once in a while, something that’ll give you a different perspective than you get in your major classes. Too bad UFV doesn’t offer circus training, right?

Feel like you’ll scream if you read one more article on the Oedipus complex? Try these courses instead!

1. RUSS 101 – Russian Language I

Nothing says “fun” like learning a new language (and a new alphabet to boot)! But perhaps master the language before actually trying to speak it in Russia – you may end up in a sticky situation if you call someone yродливый when you intend to call them прекрасный.

2. VA 283 – Intro to Photography

All you digital fans may not find this very exciting, but you should! Explore the origins of photography, get confused by the manual dials on your camera, and hopefully produce a final project where you managed to get the right exposure on at least half of your photos. Bonus points if you can remember how each dial interacts with the other settings after the class is done.

3. ASTR 104 – Stars, Galaxies, and the Cosmos

Ever wanted to feel even more minuscule in the grand scheme of things? Well, now’s your chance! Learn about how vast the universe is and feel how very, very small you are. (Note: existential crises may occur.)

4. SOC 275 – Sociology of Death and Dying

I realize this may not be most people’s idea of a fun elective, but it’s such a fascinating topic. In Western culture, we tend to shy away from talking about death, and I see why, but it’s come to the point where we seem afraid to even mention it. Every culture reacts to it differently, and everyone dies eventually. Why not delve into a taboo topic and learn a bit more about it? If nothing else, you’ll be able to understand how you and others react to it the way they do.

5. FILM 120 – World Cinema

I feel like most of us tend to lean toward films created in North America and Europe. And let’s be honest, sometimes those films are very bad at accurately portraying other cultures, or, you know, casting appropriate leads (I’m looking at you, Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders). All I’m saying is, there’s more to movies than Spiderman and Star Wars – go find it.

6. PACS 200 – Conflict Analysis and Peacebuilding in the Fraser Valley

This one is just cool, and honestly, it should be mandatory for anyone going into…. pretty much anything. It’s team-taught by several different instructors (so you get several viewpoints on peace and conflict resolution), and students identify all the different cultures in the Fraser Valley, learn about those cultures, and analyze how each culture approaches peace.