Picking Classes...

It's tough picking the best four classes listed in the course catalog each semester.

With a 700-plus page course catalog, it's hard to choose classes, whether students are looking to fill up on guts or tackle a challenging workload.

Surfing the CUE Guide in search of guts takes several hours. But the effort is rewarded with ample free time which can then be spent watching TV, napping or socializing at the Grille.

Other courses are more difficult but offer the chance to learn about an intriguing subject taught by a captivating professor.

Whether one's goal is to find guts or intellectual stimulation, students have many different methods of choosing their classes.

One Kirkland House junior, who requested anonymity, volunteered his Sstrategy for navigating through the catalog to find rewarding courses.

"First, you have to dig through the CUE guide--including back issues--and look for classes that get higher than a 3.5 [rating] overall and under three for reading, workload and difficulty," he says.

"Also, if the CUE feedback was under 50 percent, that's good," he says. "It means most people bagged the section where they handed out the forms."

The junior adds students should check out how many people are sitting in the front row of the class.

"If a lot of people are in the first row, then forget it, it's too competitive," he says.

Students should also look at how their fellow classmates are attired, he says, because "a lot of baseball caps are good, ties are bad."

For those seeking a semester without work and stress, the Kirkland junior recommends General Education 121, "A History of Zoos" and Anthropology 159: "Museums and Representations: Exhibiting Cultures."

And he advises undergraduates to take Quantitative Reasoning 10, a course from which many have been exempted, but can be taken for full credit "whether or not you've passed the QRR."

Great Classes, Great Teachers

But while upperclass students have devised a methodical approach to finding guts, first-years must proceed by trial and error in searching for the perfect classes.

Many first-years interviewed say they pick their classes according to how good the professors are.

Nicole L. Deblosi '99 shopped Science B-29: "Human Behavioral Biology," which has about 500 students.

Science B-29 (better known as "Sex") is co-taught by Irven Devore, Moore professor of biological anthropology, who is considered one of the best lecturers on campus.

"I hate science and I heard it was a gut," Deblosi says. "I stayed because it's multi-disciplinary, with anthropology and behavior stuff. The professor's funny, too."

Gretchen N. Meek '99 also enrolled in Science B-29, citing Devore's teaching style as the main reason.

"The first class was hilarious, one of the best I've ever been to," she says.

"Plus it's always interesting to take a class named 'Sex.'"

Meek also lavishes praise on Professor of Music Thomas F. Kelly, who teaches Literature and Arts B-51: "First Nights: Five Performance Premieres."

Even the musically-challenged should have no problem succeeding in Kelly's course, according to Meek.

"The professor is incredible, not stuck up at all," she says. "Even someone with no musical background can understand his lectures."

Meek says she has heard good reports about two other core classes--Literature and Arts B-39: "Michelangelo" and Literature and Arts A-18: "Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood."

But don't take the word of your friends. Check the CUE guide, too, says Sanjay K. Menon '99.

A good CUE Guide rating can help students get out of bed and into the classroom bright and early.

"Nothing at 9 a.m. ever for me, and 10 a.m. is harsh, but I took First Nights anyway," he says.

Menon, who says he "CUE'ed religiously" before entering Shopping Week, also praises Foreign Cultures 14: "Society and Politics In India."

But the brave-hearted decide to endure certain courses even though they may not be the easiest ones.

One of these troopers is Mawi H. Asgedom '99.

"You've got to make sure [the class] is not going to be boring," he says.

Asgedom says his first choice this semester is English 178x: "The 20th-Century American Novel From Dreiser to the Present." The course is taught by Reid Professor of English and American Literature Philip J. Fisher.

"The material is great because it combines history and literature and the novels so far have taken place in the 1920's when everyone was a highroller," he says.

Great professors can also develop reputations which lead to increasing enrollments in their classes.

The number of students taking Fine Arts 17e: "Introduction to 19th Century European Art" has increased and many cite the professor as the reason.

The large enrollment can be attributed to the "charismatic and warm" demeanor of Professor of Fine Arts Henri T. Zerner, according to Andrew G. Patterson '98

"First, you have to dig through the CUE guide--including back issues--and look for classes that get higher than a 3.5 [rating] overall and under three for reading, workload and difficulty," he says.

"Also, if the CUE feedback was under 50 percent, that's good," he says. "It means most people bagged the section where they handed out the forms."

The junior adds students should check out how many people are sitting in the front row of the class.

"If a lot of people are in the first row, then forget it, it's too competitive," he says.

Students should also look at how their fellow classmates are attired, he says, because "a lot of baseball caps are good, ties are bad."

For those seeking a semester without work and stress, the Kirkland junior recommends General Education 121, "A History of Zoos" and Anthropology 159: "Museums and Representations: Exhibiting Cultures."

And he advises undergraduates to take Quantitative Reasoning 10, a course from which many have been exempted, but can be taken for full credit "whether or not you've passed the QRR."

Great Classes, Great Teachers

But while upperclass students have devised a methodical approach to finding guts, first-years must proceed by trial and error in searching for the perfect classes.

Many first-years interviewed say they pick their classes according to how good the professors are.

Nicole L. Deblosi '99 shopped Science B-29: "Human Behavioral Biology," which has about 500 students.

Science B-29 (better known as "Sex") is co-taught by Irven Devore, Moore professor of biological anthropology, who is considered one of the best lecturers on campus.

"I hate science and I heard it was a gut," Deblosi says. "I stayed because it's multi-disciplinary, with anthropology and behavior stuff. The professor's funny, too."

Gretchen N. Meek '99 also enrolled in Science B-29, citing Devore's teaching style as the main reason.

"The first class was hilarious, one of the best I've ever been to," she says.

"Plus it's always interesting to take a class named 'Sex.'"

Meek also lavishes praise on Professor of Music Thomas F. Kelly, who teaches Literature and Arts B-51: "First Nights: Five Performance Premieres."

Even the musically-challenged should have no problem succeeding in Kelly's course, according to Meek.

"The professor is incredible, not stuck up at all," she says. "Even someone with no musical background can understand his lectures."

Meek says she has heard good reports about two other core classes--Literature and Arts B-39: "Michelangelo" and Literature and Arts A-18: "Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood."

But don't take the word of your friends. Check the CUE guide, too, says Sanjay K. Menon '99.

A good CUE Guide rating can help students get out of bed and into the classroom bright and early.

"Nothing at 9 a.m. ever for me, and 10 a.m. is harsh, but I took First Nights anyway," he says.

Menon, who says he "CUE'ed religiously" before entering Shopping Week, also praises Foreign Cultures 14: "Society and Politics In India."

But the brave-hearted decide to endure certain courses even though they may not be the easiest ones.

One of these troopers is Mawi H. Asgedom '99.

"You've got to make sure [the class] is not going to be boring," he says.

Asgedom says his first choice this semester is English 178x: "The 20th-Century American Novel From Dreiser to the Present." The course is taught by Reid Professor of English and American Literature Philip J. Fisher.

"The material is great because it combines history and literature and the novels so far have taken place in the 1920's when everyone was a highroller," he says.

Great professors can also develop reputations which lead to increasing enrollments in their classes.

The number of students taking Fine Arts 17e: "Introduction to 19th Century European Art" has increased and many cite the professor as the reason.

The large enrollment can be attributed to the "charismatic and warm" demeanor of Professor of Fine Arts Henri T. Zerner, according to Andrew G. Patterson '98