Love It/Hate It: Coronavirus-themed Classes

Are COVID-themed classes just adding fuel to the fire, or do they actually have some redeemable qualities? Decide for yourself...

Love it — Maranda Ngue

COVID-19. Coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2. No matter how you say it, you probably feel resentful about the circumstances. However, just because you’re bitter towards the virus doesn’t mean you should avoid the classes about it. These days, it wouldn’t hurt to learn a thing or two about the coronavirus, to not only understand the science but also the social and economic impacts. Adding “COVID-19” to the course title is not merely clickbait; it’s relevant information that we’re lucky to have access to.

Sure, professors only learned these facts over the past few months, but they are also the ones who probably dedicated their entire summers to COVID research instead of TikTok, Disney Plus, and Netflix. Before you write their COVID-themed classes off as too last-minute, consider the fact that this knowledge is essential and state-of-the-art. This is the type of cutting-edge information you came to Harvard for!

Perhaps you’re worried about the high concentration of pre-meds in a coronavirus class, aiming to strengthen their med school applications and ultimately sucking the air out of the room. While you may assume that the people in SCRB 210: “COVID-19: Science, Medicine, and Therapeutics” will make you more stressed than the virus itself, be nice— who knows, one of these Harvard kids could make the new vaccine faster than you can say “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.” Virtual networking at its finest! Still dreading these intense pre-meds? No one will know if you flick their face on your laptop screen.

Though we hope you test negative for COVID-19, here’s to looking at the positive sides of coronavirus-themed classes. Clickbait? More like checkmate.

Hate it — Anna M. Peters

Every new school year comes with the debut of new course offerings. However, this year, due to the coronavirus, we not only have remote learning, but we now also have the introduction of new coronavirus-themed classes. Having mixed feelings? Take a read for all the reasons why you should not be a fan of coronavirus-themed classes.

No Q-guide Score Report

I’m sure that one of the first things we all do when browsing classes is to look at the Q-guide score report. The one thing that’s arguably just as, or even more, important than the class descriptions itself are the ratings. How would we know what we’re getting ourselves into if we don’t know the average number of hours of work per week, or the reviews from students who have taken the class in the past? With these new coronavirus-themed classes, you’d be jumping in blind. Enter at your own risk.

Hits Way Too Close to Home

What’s worse than taking a class with no Q-guide score report? Taking a class that relates to your life a little ~too~ much. We’re all sure that 2020 is going to make it into the history books of the future, but that just means that it is something to be studied at a later time.

Just When You Thought You Couldn’t Lose Any More Hope...

Living through a global pandemic with seemingly no end in sight is hard enough. Taking a coronavirus-themed class with the hard realities presented in front of us by a world-renowned Harvard professor does not seem like the remedy. Just when you thought you couldn’t lose the very little hope that you do have left for life to improve, these classes will not hesitate to crush it.

If you still have your heart set on taking the GENED 1170: “Confronting COVID-19: Science, History, and Policy,” we will not stop you. But don’t say that we didn’t warn you.