For the very first meeting, we went to the basement of Swift and used these divining rods to hunt for ghosts in the basement and try to have interactions. That's Weinberg freshman Jack Risenman talking about a psychology class he's taking this quarter, Psychology 392, Psychology and Weird Beliefs. Chorus registration for Fall 2023 starts today. That means a day of constantly checking Caesar to see how many open seats are left in that one class you really wanted.
This week, we ask Northwestern students about some of the best classes they've taken so far at NU and what classes they have their eyes on for this fall and beyond. From the Daily Northwestern, I'm Salt Pink. This is Digital Diaries, a weekly podcast following the college experience and asking students questions about life at Northwestern. Risenman's psychology and weird beliefs class is part of his psychology major.
When he signed up for the seminar style course with psychology professor Sarah Broders, he didn't expect to be talking to ghosts in the basement of Swift Hall. Professor Broders gave us these two like bronze divining rods she called them that you'd hold in your hands. You'd have to block your elbows. Risenman then asked the ghost questions from a questionnaire.
If the rods crossed, that meant yes. If not, no. It's the first letter of your name, A. And you'd be like, wait for it to literally just do anything if it doesn't cross, it's not A.
And I don't remember exactly what our ghost name was. I think it was like Diego or something. He was like 18 years old. He was like a veteran of war.
One thing he'll remember from the class is an hour-long documentary about members of the Flat Earth Society, a conglomerate of people who believe the Earth is flat. Before taking this class, I thought that conspiracy theories were entirely crazy. They didn't really present these people as crazy, it showed that they used some sort of reasoning to get to certain conclusions, to shape their beliefs. So the class was religion and the media.
I originally took it because it fulfilled the distribution requirement for the belief ethics distro. That's Weinberg's sophomore Elena Selgia, a pre-medical sociology major. That word you just heard, distro, is something you'll hear a lot when people talk about finding the best classes. It's short for distribution requirement.
It feels like the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, and the School of Communication have these requirements to expose students to academic disciplines beyond their major. Honestly, apart from my STEM classes, I'm looking for courses that are a little bit easier, usually don't have exams, but also classes that people say are really interesting. One of Selgia's favorite distros was Religion 172, Introduction to Religion, Media, and Culture. She took it in the fall over sophomore year to fulfill Weinberg's fifth distribution area, ethics and values.
We talked about a variety of different topics in the media, ranging from video games to podcasts to even cults. So, GSA's the part of the class you'll remember the most is learning about the history of cults and how people get involved with them. You hear about that term a lot, but you never really understand what it means or how people get involved with it and just learning about that was really eye-opening experience that a lot of people in cults are really vulnerable and taken advantage of. When it comes to finding fun and interesting classes, one four-letter acronym comes to mind.
Thankfully, Northwestern has CTEX. All the CTEX for the professor were amazing. CTEX stands for Course and Teacher Evaluation Council. Each quarter, students fill out evaluations about every class they take, answering questions like how well the professor stimulated their interest in the subject or how many hours they put into the course per week.
And managing what your coursework will be before even taking the classes can be done by looking at the CTEX. Using CTEX and Word of Mouth, students can have their eyes set on certain classes in the future. While Ryzenman's fall was filled up with classes for his data science major, he said he hopes he has the chance to take the legendary Marriage 101 class up building and lasting relationships. My sister is currently a junior here at Northwestern and she's taking it and she's raving about it.
So, GSA hopes to delve into departments beyond her fields of study. I think there's a communications class on kids' culture or kids' stories. That seems really interesting to me. And then I also really want to take an RTVF class, basically anything with screenwriting.
You might find yourself hunting ghosts, or perhaps you'll end up learning about cults. But one thing is for sure. You'll never know where the courses you sign up for are going to take you. From the Daily Northwestern, I'm Salt Pink.
Thanks for listening to another episode of Digital Diaries. This episode was reported and produced by me, Salt Pink, the audio editor of the Daily Northwestern is Mika Ellison. The digital managing editors are Eva Mandoli and Erica Schmitt, and the editor-in-chief is Alex Perry. Make sure to subscribe to the Daily Northwestern's podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or SoundCloud to hear more episodes like this.