Phil 155,220: Anth 100,263; COLT 251g;

Colleges & Universities University of Southern California
1

<p>Any pros or strong cons for these category 1 and 2 classes for a science person? Some seem to have an excessive amount of work.</p>

<p>I am really disappointed at the general education offerings over the last two years. The best classes fill up early and some of the so call “general ed” classes are not general survey classes at all but esoteric convoluted subjects that would never appeal to the masses. I think if it is not in your major, you are better off having a general survey class which brings out the best of the dept’s subject matter.</p>

2

<p>Futureholds: I thought a lot of the Gen. Ed classes did not have enough broad appeal. For example, most of the Cat. 2 classes are Asian studies related. That is fine if you are interested in Asian studies, but what if you are not into Asian studies? And why can’t USC take more AP classes to apply for Cat. classes or allow students to pursue Gen. Ed. classes at other universities/study abroad after starting USC? My suggestion to you is to see if your child will take Gen. Ed. classes as a Pass/not pass option. I think the USC catalogue allows you to take some classes Pass/not pass (was it one or two Gen. Ed. classes Pass-not pass?).</p>

3

<p>My son took a Philosophy class (I don’t remember the course numbers) and said it required a lot of writing. Make sure your child is interested in the subject. Can s/he take the class in USC summer school to get these classes out of the way quickly?</p>

4

<p>Don’t forget you are allowed to take one category pass/fail if you haven’t done so already. You only need a C- to receive a pass.</p>

5

<p>Cat 4-6 classes are supposed to be “case studies”, they’re meant to be specific. Dunno if that’s an overall benefit or not.</p>

<p>All cat-1, 2, 5, 6 classes require 12-15 pages of written work throughout the semester. This is a requirement to be certified as a GE class.</p>

<p>I’m going to register for anth 263, but I don’t know that much about it.</p>

6

<p>Oh god, stay away from ANTH-263. I have had many friends take it and none had a good experience.</p>

7

<p>have any cat-2 suggestions then?</p>

8

<p>I took REL-133: Religions of Latin America. Not sure if it’s offered in the fall, but I highly recommend it.</p>

9

<p>Unfortunately the diversity classes for the summer are not 1 or 2. I wish the advisor insisted that he make his required category 6 the first year a diversity one so he could have that out of the way. At 17-18 units of required work each semester in engineering just to pass there is maybe one elective space other than 2 tech electives</p>

10

<p>it might be useful to remember that diversity can be transferred during the summer</p>

11

<p>could you please elaborate?
thanks</p>

12

<p>if all that’s needed is diversity, you can take it some place else during the summer and transfer it to USC. then you can take any cat 1/2 classes without worrying about whether it has diversity or not.</p>

13

<p>I thought the diversity classes were gm (added) onto certain cat. 6 classes.</p>

14

<p>the ‘m’ designation may go on any class that satisfies the diversity criteria, GE or not. In fact, most diversity classes are not GE’s. Some GE’s (mostly cat 6 ones) satisfy diversity and are popular because they “get two birds with one stone”</p>

<p>[Schedule</a> of Classes: Fall 2009: General Education Requirements: Diversity Courses](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/academics/classes/term_20093/general_education_requirements/diversity_courses.html]Schedule”>http://www.usc.edu/academics/classes/term_20093/general_education_requirements/diversity_courses.html)</p>

15

<p>i love phil-155, though i am not sure if manley is going to teach it in the future</p>

16

<p>Don’t listen to 2+2=5, ANTH 263g is great if you have the right professor. I took it and LOVED it. Here’s my experience:</p>

<p>ANTH 263g Exploring Cultures Through Film with BOEHM.
-NO TESTS (other prof gives tests, so GET BOEHM. He is AWESOME. <3). :slight_smile:
-ESSAYS: There are 3 papers = 2 field work assignments (no more than 3-4 pages long for essay + interviews) and a final paper. Good TA means you’ll be graded pretty easy. I believe you can submit the paper again if you don’t like your grade.
-BOOKS: There’s like 5-6 required books (generally all very cheap if you get them off the internet. You can also borrow some from the library), that are mostly very interesting reads. You get to read personal accounts about cultures like Chimpanzees (by Jane Goodall <3), the Yanomamo, etc.
-HOMEWORK: There are weekly reading assignments only half a page long that you may or may not have to read (I mean, it’s not like you’re tested on it =P And you only need some quotes for the papers). I believe some people used pretty big margins and fonts to fill up the half-a-page space very quickly. xD
-CLASS: You watch a movie each week on Wednesday that you take half a page of notes on and turn in for attendance. Lectures are pretty interesting and are done by Dr. Boehm on Mondays (can also ask questions). Attendance is taken for Monday lectures by turning in HW. At least one of the movies on Wed. will be extra credit.
-DISCUSSIONS: Also very chill, the TA I had left, but he liked to ask us thought-provoking questions to get us talking. TAs essentially do all the grading in this course.
-OTHER: If you don’t want to do the final paper, you can do a video instead because there’s this MDA 40 class (if you need 2 extra units) that goes with this class. I did this, so I don’t have a lot of info about the final paper.</p>

<p>Any recommendations for Category I would be much appreciated.</p>