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These niche classes may not be available in every college classroom across the country, but they do add weight to the argument that learning should be fun.
From scaling redwoods, analyzing Starfleet ethics, or sewing couture for canines, these courses invite students to dive deep into their favorite hobbies — and the singers they know all too well.
If these classes sound intriguing to you, it might be time to start one at your local community arts center yourself.
Pennsylvania State University: Cow to Cone Ice Cream Making Class
In this weeklong workshop, students work hands-on with the university’s herd of dairy cows, harvesting milk, whipping up custom mixes, and freezing, flavoring, and hardening treats into ice cream, frozen yogurt, and other frozen concoctions.
“By 1925, ice cream had become so popular that a separate course devoted exclusively to the subject was established,” the course description reads. “Today, the College of Agricultural Sciences still offers the course in January, which is normally the slowest time for the ice cream industry. The Department of Food Science sponsors this program.”
Michigan State University: Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse
A seven-week class that invites students to study past catastrophes and theorize how people, families, governments, civilizations, and “the Earth itself” would react in the event of a hypothetical zombie apocalypse.
“This game has two main roles: humans and zombies,” the course description reads. “The human groups must follow a set of rules to accomplish the goal and to survive. Each group should be given 5 minutes to strategize once their leader has returned from receiving their secret assignment.”
Cornell University: Tree Climbing
This outdoor class teaches students how to use ropes and climbing gear to scale forest canopies and swing from tree to tree. Extracurricular expeditions include school field trips to the Redwoods and the Costa Rican rainforest.
“Whether you are a rain forest canopy researcher, an arborist, or just a kid at heart, everyone loves to climb trees,” the course description reads.
“Recall the excitement and sense of adventure when you first crawled into the branches to look inside a bird's nest. Then you swung from limb to limb without a thought of ropes and harnesses.”
University of California, Irvine: The Science of Superheroes
Have you ever wondered how Wonder Woman’s invisible jet would actually work? This class applies physics and scientific principles to superheroes, asking students to create case studies pulled straight from comic book pages.
“Explore how science works and what constitutes ‘good’ science through case studies drawn from a wide spectrum of people's experience, for example superheros, movies, and real world issues such as global warming,” the course description reads. “The case studies will provide the change to act as science critics as the students develop a better appreciation for science and the scientific method.”
Georgetown University: Star Trek and Philosophy
This course swaps out dry philosophy textbooks for stories told from the command deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
Using episodes from the beloved 1960s science fiction series, students ponder complex questions like “Is time travel possible? Could you go back and kill your grandmother? What is time?” and “What is a person? Must you have the same body to be you? Same memories?”
University of California, Berkeley: Arguing with Judge Judy
A deep dive into the rhetoric of courtroom shows like “Judge Judy” and “The People’s Court” and the oft-used logical fallacies that lead to weak legal arguments. Like when Judy asks, “Tell me the name of the friend and the phone number of the friend?” And a defendant responds, “I don’t have that on me.”
“Students who are interested in logic, argument, TV, and American popular culture will probably be interested in this course,” the course description reads. “I emphasize that it is NOT about the application of law or the operations of the court system in general.”
Fashion Institute of Technology: Making Garments for Dogs
A semester-long course that teaches students how to make garments for their “favorite four-legged family members.” Lesson plans include pattern laying, professional sewing techniques, and sourcing environmentally friendly fabrics.
“At New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), fashion has officially gone to the dogs—and cats, and even the occasional iguana,” Jackson College Counseling wrote in an Instagram post. “FIT offers the world’s only higher education program dedicated entirely to pet fashion, where students learn how to design, brand, and market clothing for our furry (and not-so-furry) friends.”
Harvard University: Taylor Swift and Her World
Swiftie students are tasked with reading the works of Willa Cather, James Weldon Johnson, William Wordsworth — and, of course, Taylor Swift — as they explore the lyricism and literary influences found within the musician’s vast discography.
“We will move through Swift's own catalogue, including hits, deep cuts, outtakes, re-recordings, considering songwriting as its own art, distinct from poems recited or silently read,” the course description reads.
“We will learn how to study fan culture, celebrity culture, adolescence, adulthood, and appropriation; how to think about white texts, Southern texts, transatlantic texts, and queer subtexts. We will learn how to think about illicit affairs, and hoaxes, champagne problems, and incomplete closure.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2025 Education Edition of the Goodnewspaper
Header image via Yan Krukau
