CATAMOUNTS CHOOSE COURSES: SWEET CLASSES FOR SPRING 2020

Welp. It’s that time of year again where we dust off that ol’ schedule of courses (or the course directory), fire up your degree audit, start getting chummy with Coursicle, and (hopefully) scheduling time to meet with your academic advisor.

Pro tip: if you haven’t done that last step, swing through your myUVM portal, your current advisor appears on under the Advising tab.

Between navigating what you HAVE to take and what you WANT to take – it sometimes can be hard to figure out your upcoming UVM-life the wide world of course offerings.  If you need a little advice before you set that alarm and register for classes? Let us help.  Check out a few courses we’ve taken, hope to take, or just plain sound fun:

Harmony 

ASL 001: American Sign Language I

 4 Credits; T/TR, 11:40-12:55 + a weekly lab (CRN 10899, 10900, 12488, 14079, 14532)

If you still need to fulfill your language requirement or are just looking for a fun class to take, American Sign Language (ASL) is a great option. I am an ASL minor, and I’ve also had the wonderful opportunity to be a TA for ASL 1. You’ll of course learn much of the language – but also have a change to learn more about Deaf culture. It’s an overall enriching experience. If you’re interested – get ready, these classes fill up quickly!

Amanda

SWSS 002: FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL WORK

3 Credits; T/TR: 11:40-12:55 (CRN 10411)

Okay, so I know I highlighted this course a few ago…but it is still awesome. If you are unclear about what you want to major in, this would be a great class to start with. The workload is not heavy, you get to learn about yourself, take field trips, meet great people and the professor always has some sort of treat for the class that would surely put a smile on your face.

I recommend this course to students because it’s an introduction to the profession of social work – its functions, values, and the problems it addresses. Social Work does not have to be your major to take this course, but it for sure has resulted in students changing their major to Social Work. Foundations of Social Work allows you to have hands on experience at helping our Burlington community, if you want to get your feet wet with advocating but do not know how.

Jimmy

STAT 201: QR: Stat Computing & Data Analysis

3 Credits: T/TR: 1:15 – 2:30 (CRN 13824)

A class that I took last semester that I loved and will be offered during this upcoming semester is STAT 201. This class is an intro to the R and SAS coding languages. The first half of the semester is dedicated to SAS and the second half is dedicated to R. I took it with Professor Weaver and she is very nice to be around and also super knowledgeable in both languages. This class is designed for people who have never seen R or SAS before but it definitely does help if you have some prior knowledge or at least familiarize yourself with them before the semester begins as it isn’t an easy class. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this class, learned a lot, and use R all the time now. Prerequisite(s): STAT 141 or STAT 143 or STAT 211; or STAT 111 with Instructor permission.

Ellie

ASCI 154: Canine Behavior

3 Credits; M: 6:15-9:15 (CRN – 13579)

Canine Behavior is just how it sounds, all about dogs.  This class meets once a week to observe and study man’s best friend. The professor is one of the sweetest ladies around and makes the class a very engaging and fun atmosphere. There is at least one (usually multiple) dog in every class. There is very little out of class work, which makes this class a great escape from the normal class load. Take it just for the pups alone. Prerequisite: ASCI 038.

Have any favorite courses of your own? Let us know in the comments below – or send us a note on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook!