11/1/98

Beyond the Moniker

Professors use `catchy' course titles to advertise and market their classes

By Genna McLaughlin

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Brad Baker figured "Mind and Brain" would be a basic psychology course delving into why people think the way they do - not a neurological, psychological and physiological study of consciousness.

Not that he had a choice. It was take-it-or-leave-it when the Indiana University of Pennsylvania senior signed up for a synthesis course, a required course for all students in their junior or senior years.

"Mind and Brain" was the only one left.

"I wanted `French Cooks, Italian Lovers' but that was filled," the 22-year-old secondary math education major said at the end of a recent class session.

Mike Gazda, another IUP senior, signed up for the "French Cooks, Italian Lovers" course. He's now in the midst of exploring cultural stereotypes and the social fiber of international societies, with no frying pan in sight.

So what is in a name when it headlines a course at one of the state-owned universities?

Hopefully a little bit of a hook, said Mary Sadler, director of liberal studies at IUP. "We encourage the faculty to come up with interesting titles that pique students' interests."

The majority of classes in IUP's course catalog would not fit in a list of "catchy" titles. It is loaded with sensible, easy-to-predict titles like "History of the Modern Era," "Cultural Anthropology," "Shakespeare" and "French II."

But as choices for a synthesis course, "Madness," "Atomic Bomb" and "Food and Culture" accompany a slew of other curious titles.

"I don't agree with the whole basis of advertising and marketing a class," said Sadler. "But when students have 30 synthesis choices, I don't see anything wrong with it. I think it's in a professor's best interest to make the title intriguing."

When IUP professor Foster Jones sent his proposal for a synthesis course titled "The New European Union," IUP's Liberal Studies Committee asked for a new title.

"They said `yawn,'" said Jones. "They thought it was too boring. They wanted something more user friendly."

And so came "French Cooks, Italian Lovers."

"We're not trying to mislead students," said Lawrence Moses, chairman of the earth science department at California University of Pennsylvania.

The department's course, "Scenic Areas of the U.S.," is not a tour ride to the Grand Canyon but a study of "differences in soil, vegetation, climates and landforms" at scenic areas in the United States.

"If (students) just look at the title, they may be misled," said Moses. "But I think you're obligated to look beyond the title."

Both universities have course descriptions in their catalogs and sometimes a subtitle, such as "Perspectives of Human Consciousness" attached to IUP's "Mind and Brain" course, sheds more light on an oftentimes academically rigorous content.

"The first things students find out is the reading is intense," said Andrew Browe, IUP biology professor who co-teaches "Mind and Brain" with philosophy professor Daniel Boone. "I think many students come in with a misperception of it. Students think they're going to talk about being awake and being asleep. I suspect some students struggle."

The lesson is don't judge a class by its title.

California University of Pennsylvania English professor Robert Dillon feels that's what was done recently to his course "Star Trek and Modern Man" in a report published by the Pennsylvania Association of Scholars and The Commonwealth Foundation.

The study of 14 universities in the State System of Higher Education referred to "Star Trek and Modern Man" and 13 other courses at California University of Pennsylvania as not "serious" and suggested Dillon's course lacked literary value.

"No one asked what I do in the course," said Dillon. "They didn't even look at my textbooks. We use the Norton Anthology of English Literature. I'm obviously not teaching cartoons here."

From his campus office filled with "Star Trek" posters, Dillon explained the rationale behind his 20-year-old course in which he shows "Star Trek" episodes in which there are references and allusions to literary works by the likes of Shakespeare, Blake and Tennyson.

"I use `Star Trek' as a cinematic dramatization of written literature," said Dillon. He described one episode, "Conscience of the King," based on the play from which the title was taken, Shakespeare's "Hamlet." "`Star Trek' doesn't mean emptiness and nonacademic."

Even if a student thought that, if a student didn't bother to read a course description before walking into a class, a syllabus, handed out on the first day of every class, would immediately dispel misperceptions.

"The first words out of my mouth at the start of every semester are `If you took this class to find out about French cooking, you're in the wrong class,'" said Jones of his "French Cooks, Italian Lovers" course. "But, I suspect everyone is here because they know it's about international culture."

Mary Sadler said assuming that a student would pick a course based solely on its title would be underestimating that student. "Students don't normally come into a university and start picking and choosing courses."

"No way would I pick a class just by the title," said Jamie Kokales, a senior at IUP. "I read almost every course description. I also look at the professor and how the course fits in my schedule."