The entirety of your academic accreditation during college can easily be lumped into two categories: Your specific discipline (major) and liberal arts requirements. Students at Nazareth must complete a variety of required liberal arts courses (commonly referred to as P-EQs) that range from music to religion to philosophy. Because taking some of these classes is mandatory, you will have to find some that sound interesting to you to meet your graduation requirements.
This process is not very difficult, and Naz’s online self-service tools make it easy to determine which requirements still need to be fulfilled, but it isn’t always clear which ones you should choose. What subject matter will I enjoy? What courses are the most fun? Which teachers are the best? I won’t be able to tell you what courses will be the best for you on a personal level, but what I can do is suggest a few courses that I’ve taken and ended up enjoying far more than I thought I would.
PHL 312 – Ethics – Dennis Prescott
Prescott’s Ethics class is exactly what an ethics class should be: a deep dive into the construction of morality and ethical frameworks that guide human behavior. The class has a loose structure based around specific topics and readings, but the best parts are the discussions and debates that come about as a result of material. Some of this occurs naturally, some of it is manufactured, but all of it ends up being interesting when you’re in the room watching it unfold. This class, admittedly, is comprised of some difficult readings (Aristotle, Kant, etc…) and requires good writing from the students, but is no less enjoyable for it. Prescott makes the class lighthearted and genuinely thought provoking with his sharp wit, both of which are the bread and butter of an enjoyable classroom experience.
HIS 101 – Western Civilization – Timothy Thibodeau
Your academic requirements will also include some sort of history class, of which you have several options; whichever you choose, I recommend it be with Dr. Thibodeau. Western Civ was I course I had expected to be a tiresome bore, and it turned out to be anything but! The course is centered on Greco-Roman development, but also deviates into general history factoids and even current events. Thibodeau also has quite the wit, and the subject matter is greatly enhanced as a result, since a dry reiteration of history can easily put the most lucid of us to sleep.
RES 101 – Exploring Religion – Susan Nowak
Everyone has to take a religion course as part of their accreditation, something I was and still am very apprehensive about, since discussing religion (and politics) can be an undeniably uncomfortable situation; all that being said, this is the course that I would recommend. Susan does a great job of including a variety of perspectives on different world religions and facilitates meaningful conversations. The courses makes interesting pit stops all around the world, and doesn’t stay in any one place for too long. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Just remember a few things when you’re looking at elective classes in the future: who is teaching it, and what is it really about? During my time at Nazareth I’ve developed a particular fondness for certain teachers and ended up taking several of their courses as a result. As your college experience grows, it will be up to you to figure out who and what you enjoy.
