In the midst of fulfilling our core requirements and trying to decide which classes we should take to prepare ourselves for whatever career lies ahead, we can easily forget that a third of our curriculum is designed for us to explore. With SMU’s class requirements, we have the opportunity to try out those weird, quirky classes that would only be offered by SMU and the ones that would just be helpful for any degree. After talking to a number of upperclassmen experienced in the frenziness of deciding which classes to take, I have come up with a list of the “must have” classes that one should take before graduating (in no particular order):

BIOL 1303: Essentials of Biology (with Professor John Wise)

BIOL 3354: Parasitology

CCJN 2302: Ethics of Convergent Media

CCPA 4323: Forensics Workshop

ECON 1311: Microeconomics

ECON 4351: Labor Economics (with Professor Elizabeth Wheaton)

HIST 3301: Human Rights – America’s Dilemma (with Dr. Rick Halperin)

HIST 4300: Seminar in Research & Writing – Race, Slavery & Independence (with Professor Edward Countryman)

HIST 3355: Class and Gender in Ancient Society (with Dr. Melissa Dowling)

HIST 3350: Life in the Medieval World, A.D. 306 to 1095 (with Professor Jeremy Adams)

PLSC 4369: Republicanism & The Good Society (with Professor Michael Lusztig)

PLSC 4363: Religion and Politics in the Western Tradition (with Professor Matthew Wilson)

PLSC 4380: Special Studies in International Relations: Model United Nations

PLSC  4369: Civil Liberties (with Professor Joseph Kobylka)

PLSC 4321: Civil Rights Pilgrimage (with Professor Dennis Simon)

CFA 3303: Human Sexuality 

WELL 1101: Choices 1 – Concepts Well

WELL 2125: Beginners Triathalon (with professor David Bertrand)

Any class with Dr. David D. Doyle 

Of course there are plenty more classes that deserve to be on this list, but we could only name a few. In addition, remember that for most courses, it is not necessarily the subject matter that is taught, but rather the teacher that makes the experience worthwhile.