Too cool for school

IU offers hundreds of classes each semester -- organic chemistry, finite mathematics, literary criticism. They all make students sweat, but IU also offers a host of classes that are downright fun.\nYet more than a few students have signed up for these "cool" classes, only to find out that the subject is taken seriously -- and that the class is seriously hard. \nSeveral of these classes, including MUS Z201 The History of Rock and Roll Music, and HPER F255 Human Sexuality, have large enrollments and enthusiastic students. \nSophomore Dereck Stinson signed up for The History of Rock and Roll Music after a friend recommended the class. He said while the class isn't easy, it's a welcome break from his curriculum at the Kelley School of Business. \n"It's laid-back," Stinson said. "You don't need to know this stuff, but you want to know this stuff. The professor is pretty cool. He keeps it upbeat."\nJunior Sarah Steele said sometimes it's refreshing to learn about something she really cares about. \n"It's really interesting, compared to something like biology," she said. "You already listen to music everyday, and it gives you appreciation of what you already know. You learn that what is coming out now is taking off of what came before."\nNoting the popularity of classes that make everyday subjects academic, the School of Music has begun offering a slew of "Z" classes aimed at the non-music major.\nJake Smith, a guest lecturer at the School of Music, is helping lead the new wave of cool classes. \nSmith teaches "Writing and Recording Pop Songs" and "Recording -- From Edison to Napster." He said he believes the School of Music's effort to reach out to non-majors has been a success.\n"There's this one little department in the music school -- the Department of Music and General Studies -- which has classes for non-majors, and that's where all the great stuff happens," he said. \nSmith also said that it's great that these classes don't require students to read music, because many of history's greatest musicians didn't read music themselves.\n"Paul McCartney, Chuck Berry -- they couldn't get a degree here," he said. "They don't make music that way. If you're interested in songwriting, but you're scared away by theory, this is the class for you."\nThese classes base their curricula around issues important to students' lives.\nDebra Herbenick, a doctoral student in health behavior, teaches a section of Human Sexuality. She said her class is so popular because it offers an open forum on a pertinent subject. \n"I think it's so popular because sexuality is relevant to everybody's life whether or not they're actually having sex," she said. "It's a unique experience for students to be able to talk openly about such a taboo subject."\nBut be warned, Human Sexuality isn't for the faint of heart. Lectures on contraceptives and sexually transmitted infections were discussed this week.\n"It's a lot more graphic than what I'd expected," junior Sara Yeager said. "The way they teach it is a lot more open than anything I've ever had before."\nNevertheless, Yeager said the class offered a lot of important information she wouldn't have gotten in any other class. \nWhether schooled in "The Clash" or the Clap, for many students "cool" classes bring another dimension to the college experience.\n-- Contact assistant copy chief Kehla West at krwest@indiana.edu.