When you register for classes, your first priority is to ensure you have all the credits necessary for your major. While signing up for gen-eds and required classes might be boring, choosing your electives should be a fun opportunity to explore topics that excite you.
UM offers a wide variety of unique courses that you can tailor to complement your degree program, put toward a minor or utilize to explore other interests. If you’re looking for a course to fulfill requirements or just want to learn something new, The Miami Hurricane rounded up five electives that probably aren’t on your schedule but definitely should be.
- Special Topics in Strategic Communication (STC 290)
We’d be remiss to share a list of unique electives without mentioning UM’s staple Taylor Swift course, A.K.A. Strategically Communicating through Music: The Mastermind of the Taylor Swift Brand.
The course analyzes all things “Swiftie”including the implicit roles of news coverage, social media, business and fanbase. Students will learn how music bridges communicative gaps, discover in what ways the First Amendment applies to public figures and field a
comprehensive understanding of how to best utilize social media in brand-building.
Class participation and social media presence are a large portion of your grade, so if you love to talk, especially about Taylor Swift, this is the class for you!
- The Vampire in Folklore, Fiction, and Film (CLA 325)
“Twilight” fans, this just might be the course of your dreams. The Classics department offers a deep-dive into the role vampires play in early literature and modern-day screen adaptations. CLA 325 traces the tradition of these and other such monsters in a long timeline of folk narratives, novels and cinematic productions.
The course description details “attempts to ponder such fundamental questions as ‘What does it mean to be human?’ and ‘What are the implications of death?’” If you like pondering supernatural ideas through literary lenses, this class is a must.
- Natural Disasters: Hollywood vs. Reality (GSC 107)
Several of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters call upon the most brutal acts of nature as the core event of their story arcs such as “Twisters” (2024), “2012” (2009), San Andreas (2005) and more.
Science junkies and film buffs alike will find this class both educational and engaging as they analyze scientific treatment and cinematic depictions of natural disasters. In-class exercises include analyzing media write-ups for disaster films for scientific accuracy.
Bonus: This course can count as part of the individualized STEM cognate or fulfill the College of Arts and Sciences’ natural world requirement!
- Superhuman Mind (PHI 109)
Do superhumans exist? If you’ve ever wondered whether you or someone you know might be truly extraordinary, consider taking this philosophy course.
The class explores case studies of “accidental geniuses,” lucid dreaming, human echolocation, synthetic telepathy and more. You’ll learn how neurological disability, human capacity, mental capability and inexplicable intelligence work together to create instances of superhumanity.
If you’re prone to YouTube deep dives or mindless scrolls through TikTok to learn how to lucid dream, this class will grant you the answers you’ve been craving.
- Podcast Storytelling (JMM 356)
If none of the other subjects interest you, perhaps it’s time to teach others about your hyperfixations. Podcast Storytelling teaches students standard podcasting concepts while supplying techniques to create content applicable to their own interests.
Projects are produced both individually and through teams, and recent podcasts include: What is Love? (Dating Apps vs. Real Life), Global Now: Sports and Mental Health, Hip-Hop for Social Change and Murder Mysteries.
Your schedule doesn’t have to be all gen-eds and major requirements. Fun electives can break up an intense lineup and teach you something you might have never learned.