The Benefits of Core Classes

By Katy-Anne Binstead on January 27, 2020

I’ve come to a huge appreciation for the benefits of core classes. If you’re anything like me, you may start your major with a general interest in the major (after all, why study it otherwise), but have no real idea of what specialties you may be interested in. When I started my graduate degree in literature, I didn’t really know what I was interested in, except that I was fascinated with literature. As I took the core classes towards that major, I began learning what themes and interests I had. If you asked my advisor, she would tell you that I have asked for many sample syllabi and the further I’ve gotten into my program, I’ve tweaked it and changed some of my class choices to reflect where my interests lie.

This is the beauty of having core classes. The core classes give an overview of where students can find out what they might be interested in. My school has classes in English literature and American literature, and when I started the program, I thought my interests would lie in British literature, because I am Australian, and I felt like I would connect to it more. It turns out that like the early Americans, I’m quite the rebel and greatly prefer American literature. There are a certain number of classes required in both English and American literature, but there are some to specialize in, and so I had to change those classes out.

There are a few ways that I accomplish this task, the first is to check the course catalog and read the class descriptions and evaluate all the options. I read the descriptions more than once, looking for specific things that I am wanting. For my literature classes, I am looking at particular literary periods, particular authors, or themes. I’ve learned that I’m more interested in the American literature classes and that Romanticism is a particular period I want to go in-depth with. When I started studying literature, my interest was in horror, monsters, and vampires, and it still is. But I have also been able to figure out how to hone that interest within the classes.

Another way, as I mentioned before, is to ask my advisor for a copy of a previous syllabus for those courses that I’m remotely interested in. That gives me a better idea of which authors are being studied, and which specific themes will be focused on. My advisor has a wealth of knowledge about the classes, and she also knows where to find information if she doesn’t know. I have also been in a situation where I was interested in two classes but could only take one, and chose it because of which professor was teaching it because I had learned a lot from that professor previously.

But it’s harder to make choices of what you want to study if you haven’t taken the core classes. Core classes can often be frustrating, due to being an overview of a subject, but it also grounds you. Making informed choices is always better than making a choice based on a whim or because something sounds good. Core classes are essential to the college experience and enhance learning. I have learned to value those core classes.

It’s perfectly okay to not know what parts of your discipline interest you more than others, and it’s a good thing to be able to have a survey of academic thought. Core classes enable students to understand many of the core concepts of the discipline, and the major movements or philosophies. If your elective classes no longer reflect your academic interests, it’s more than okay to switch them to classes that do. That is, after all, part of the point of core classes.

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