The Most Obscure Classes
YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF-
With a campus as active, diverse and dynamic as Temple’s, one could only expect an equally interesting range of classes –– and Temple sure does deliver. A student can expect to be both surprised and challenged by an untraditional education.
Many engaging and obscure classes exist on campus. Whether studying food choices in Honors Eating Cultures or making real changes in Guerrilla Altruism, these classes might just be some of the best you’ll ever take.
The stereotype behind a college class is sitting in a lecture hall filled with 100 other students, but students taking Guerrilla Altruism not only get to choose the direction of the course, but also go out into the community and make real change happen. Students go on-site to neighborhoods in North Philadelphia and talk to residents to identify a problem and find a solution.
“The best thing about being a student is the ability to listen without an agenda,” said Professor Andrew Hart, who teaches the course. “We go out into the community and listen.”
The class challenges students to come up with their own altruistic philosophy and create a project that embodies guerilla altruism — instigating change for the better in untraditional ways. The class focuses on bringing students of all skillsets together to collaboratively make a difference.
“I’m excited to see where the students take the project,” Hart said. “It’s all up to them.”
Guerrilla Altruism gives students the chance to use their education to make a difference and give back.
The nature of education is to understand the world around you better, and Honors Eating Cultures fosters an understanding of something essential to human existence: food.
Honors Eating Cultures students study how people decide what they eat, how that food comes to be on a plate and how cuisine can be important to cultures all over the world.
“Hopefully my students will be able to look at a sandwich they’re eating and understand all of the forces that went into putting that sandwich on their plate and why they might’ve chosen that sandwich,” said Dr. Patricia Moore-Martinez, who teaches the class.
Honors Eating Cultures is a Human Behavior General Education course. Students will take trips to local corner stores, farmer’s markets and even an urban farm founded by a Temple graduate.
Students can also bring in masterpieces of cuisine they whipped up themselves, encouraging students to utilize the kitchens available to them on campus.
The class also learns about food security and access to food, not only globally, but also right here in Philadelphia. Just like Guerilla Altruism, this class is applicable to everyone on campus.
“Any single discipline in the university that you want to look at, some way or another, you can look at food through that lens,” Moore-Martinez said.
Keep these unique courses in mind when registering for classes. Take advantage of these classes as a chance to branch out, try something new and learn about yourself and the people around you.
Written by Jennifer Hammel
Photographed by Sarah Whitehead
