Some of My Favorite Non-Major Classes

As a senior in the College majoring in Economics, I am particularly grateful for the opportunity to explore a variety of classes across different undergraduate schools at Penn. Here are some of my favorite non-major classes that have stimulated my academic curiosity in various fields!

MUSC 1300 - Thousand Years of Musical Listening is a course that fulfills both the Arts & Letters Sector requirement and the Cross-Cultural Foundational Requirement. This course captivated me with its active engagement in musical pieces spanning from the Medieval Ages to modern composition. A notable aspect was the concert reflection component, where I enjoyed the Daedalus Quartet’s rendition of Haydn, William Grant Still, and Mendelssohn.

KORN 1070 - Advanced Topics in Korean Language and Culture is a course that I took to gain a deeper understanding of my culture, though I have already fulfilled my foreign language requirements by testing out before my freshman year of college. With a small cohort of enrolled students, it provided a fruitful experience actively discussing modern Korean societal issues such as low birth rate with my peers and instructor. 

CIS 1200 - Programming Languages and Techniques is a course that I took during my first semester at Penn as a freshman. Though it was during a remote semester, I thoroughly enjoyed the course because of the availability of professors and TAs who were incredibly invested in  students’ success. It enhanced my algorithmic thinking, which was especially beneficial when I was later taking other quantitative-based courses. What’s unique about this course is that students learn both OCaml and JAVA, providing an early opportunity to develop practical programming skills. 

OIDD 2910 - Negotiations is a course that is affiliated with the Wharton School of Business. This course equipped me with tangible life skills. Due to the tight-knit learning environment, I not only learned various negotiation techniques to achieve successful and collaborative outcomes but also applied them to practice. Each lecture began with students being placed into 1:1 matches or small cohorts to complete a role-playing exercise based on differing themes (e.g. home buyer and seller, HR manager and job candidate). 

- Rachel L.