Check ‘Em Out: Spring Semester DeCal Classes
It’s a slow news day, so let’s talk about DeCals. As of today, there are 88 DeCal classes listed on the site, though don’t go racing to Telebears to sign up — you’ll have to wait to get the course control number.
For those who are unfamiliar, DeCal stands for Democratic Education at Cal. It’s a program that allows students to teach other students (I know, scary). The classes are a great way to fill up an empty schedule or to explore a new subject without worrying about grades. Some classes even offer community service for the kind, generous, or overly ambitious.
As Chris Smyr pointed out, there’s a class dedicated to blogging called “The Weblog as a Medium for Nonfiction Creative Writing.” It’s a lot of writing (and not even for “real” credit), but if you’re genuinely interested in the blogging phenomenon, then you might want to check it out.
Other highlights include:
Not all classes are up yet (new ones get added everyday), so expect to see biggies like “The ABC’s of Iran” and “Female Sexuality” in a few days (weeks?). In the meantime, you’re left with DeCals about books, books, and uhh science-fiction…books.
Don’t forget the obligatory “The Other Berkeley: An Introduction to City Affairs,” coming online at the beginning of January. 2 units and lots of guest speakers.
Comment by Igor Tregub — December 27, 2006 @ 1:45 am
It’s a lot of writing, but the student chooses the topics, the deadlines, the style, etc. etc. It won’t fulfill R&C breadths, but that’s because it’s not a formal writing course. The course has definite appeal to any aspiring writers/bloggers, and it’s “real” enough to garner enough units for full-time student status in *some* situations
Comment by Chris Smyr — December 27, 2006 @ 2:01 am