海外文化:看看美國高校的十大古怪課程
College courses aren’t all “Econ 1011” and “The History of Europe: 1500-Present”. A trend among many colleges and universities is to offer courses that are slightly off the beaten track . Many of these courses draw their themes from pop culture or sports, or they may be the brainchildren of professors who want to share their passion with students. They may be no less serious than traditional courses, but they certainly cover new academic ground. Students take these off beat courses for a variety of reasons—hoping for an easy A, to try something fun, or to explore a new interest.
大學裏開設的課程並不都是像“經濟學導論”和“歐洲史：1500年至今”這樣的課程。目前在許多高校中有一種趨勢，就是開設一些稍微偏離常規的課程。在這些課程中，許多都是從流行文化或體育運動中選取主題，這些主題也可能是那些想與學生分享自己激情的教授們的想法。這些課程可能不比傳統的課程遜色，而它們的確涉及到了新的學術領域。學生們之所以選修這些非正統的課程，理由可謂多種多樣——有的希望輕鬆地得到A，有的想嘗試一下好玩的東西，或是想探索新的興趣領域。
1) You can boldly go where no other philosophy student has gone before in Georgetown University’s “Philosophy and Star Trek” course, where students discuss the nature of time travel, the ability of computers to think and feel, and other philosophical dilemmas facing the crew of the Starship Enterprise.
在喬治城大學開設的“哲學與《星際旅行》”課上，你可以大膽地向其他任何學哲學的學生都未曾涉足的領域進軍。在這門課上，學生們討論時間旅行的性質、計算機思考與感知的能力，以及“進取號星艦” 乘務組所面臨的其他哲學困境。
2) Discover how Brick really felt when Opal left him for his neighbor’s best friend’s sister in the University of Wisconsin’s course entitled “Daytime Serials: Family and Social Roles.” Students analyze
the plots, themes, and characters of daytime soaps and discuss their impact on modern life.
在威斯康星大學開設的名爲“日間連續劇：家庭與社會角色”的課上，你可以去探究當奧帕爾離開布里克而去和他鄰居好朋友的妹妹在一塊兒時，布里克真正的感受是什麼。學生們在課上分析日播肥皂劇的故事情節、主題和人物，並討論他們對現代生活的影響。
3) If you’ve been longing to research how hot dogs, theme parks, and the five-day workweek have impacted American leisure culture, check out the University of Iowa course “The American Vacation”. This course pays particular attention to how American families’ varying backgrounds shape their vacation experiences.
如果你一直渴望研究熱狗、主題公園以及每週五天的工作日製度如何影響美國人的休閒文化，那就辦好手續，去聽一聽衣阿華大學開設的“美國人的假期”這門課程吧。該課程格外關注了美國家庭的不同背景如何決定其度假方式。
4) Bowdoin College students can delve into “The Horror Film in Context” in the school’s English Department. Students read Freud and Poe and watch Hitchcock and Craven， all while discussing the horror genre’s treatment of gender, class, and family.
鮑登學院的學生可以鑽研一下該校英語系開設的“情境中的恐怖電影”這門課程。學生們一邊研讀弗洛伊德和愛倫·坡的著作，觀看希區柯克和克雷文的恐怖電影，一邊討論恐怖片中對性別、階級和家庭的處理。
5) At Williams College, students can learn more about those in the cement shoe industry by enrolling in “Comparative History of Organized Crime”， which compares the work of goodfellas from the United States, Italy, Japan, and Russia.
在威廉姆斯學院，通過選修“有組織的犯罪比較史”這門課，學生們可以瞭解到更多關於黑社會成員的事情。該課程比較了來自美國、意大利、日本和俄羅斯的黑幫成員的活動。
6) If you’ve got a romantic urge for adventure, check out Barnard College’s course on “The Road Movie”， which studies Easy Rider and Thelma and Louise, while also discussing the genre’s literary precursors, like On the Road and The Odyssey.
如果你有想要去歷險的浪漫衝動，那就辦好手續，去聽一聽巴納德學院的“公路電影”課吧。該課程研究電影《逍遙騎士》和《末路狂花》，同時討論該類題材電影的文學淵源，如《在路上》和《奧德賽》。
7) If hitting the road doesn’t satisfy your rebellious streak, sign up for Brown University’s course on “American Degenerates”， in which students discuss how early British-American writers embraced the grotesque, monstrous, “not our kind” status bestowed on them by the mother country and reflected their zeal for cultural and physical degeneracy in their literature.
如果流浪還不能滿足你叛逆的性情，那就報名選修布朗大學開設的“墮落的美國人”吧。課上學生們將討論早期英裔美國作家們是如何接受其祖國賦予他們的怪誕、畸形、“非我族類”的地位，以及他們如何在其文學作品中反映他們對文化墮落和行爲頹廢的熱忱。
8) Those artsy types at the Rhode Island School of Design can put down their paintbrushes and take “The Art of Sin and the Sin of Art”， which contemplates the relationship between sin and the art world. The course catalog invites you to “lust with the saints and burn with the sinners”.
羅德島設計學院那些有藝術家氣質的學生可以放下畫筆，選修“罪之藝術和藝術之罪”這門課。該課程對罪孽和藝術世界的關係進行思考。課程目錄將邀你“與聖人一起放縱慾望，並和罪人一起在烈火中飽受煎熬”。
9) If talking about death several times a week in class sounds like a good time to you, try Purdue University’s “Death and the Nineteenth Century” course. Every poem and novel in the course deals with the 19th-century conception of mortality and the world beyond.
如果每週在課堂上談論幾次關於死亡的話題，對你來說聽起來還不錯，那你可以試試普渡大學開設的“死亡與19世紀”這門課程。這門課上研究的每首詩歌和每部小說都涉及了19世紀人們對死亡和死後世界的見解。
10) At Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, students can take “Art of Walking”， in which students not only read literature by noted perambulators like Kant and Nietzsche, but go for neighborhood strolls with their professor and his dog.
在肯塔基州當維爾市的中央學院，學生們可以選修“散步的藝術”這門課。在這門課上，學生們不但要閱讀一些著名的漫步者的著作，如康德和尼采的作品，而且還會和教授及他的狗一塊兒在附近散散步。
Most college programs offer interesting courses to introduce you to new and fascinating subject matters. Take advantage of the many possibilities offered to you by sitting down with your advisor to talk about course options and then really thinking about the courses you choose to take.
多數大學都開設一些趣味性強的課程，用來向你介紹一些新的且引人入勝的主題。好好利用這些課程給你提供的衆多可能性吧！坐下來跟你的輔導員討論一下選課的事情，然後認真思考一下你要選修的那些課程。
