Don’t let the title of this article mislead you – as a SUNY student you are not required to take online classes. But with all the flexibility that an online course provides (like not having to meet at a specified place and time), why wouldn’t you want to take an online class?
Online courses can help you build skills that you never knew you had or wanted. And with over 4,500 online course sections being offered in the Fall 2015 semester alone, there are a lot of options. From psychology, to education, design and physics, the selection has never been bigger.
Here are some of the classes available through Open SUNY that you’ll want on your schedule this semester.
1. History of Decorative Arts: 1600-Present
The spaces you study, eat, sleep, and LIVE in have a profound effect on you. They can help you focus, get you energized, help you decompress, and soothe. This class looks spaces – how they change both because of the current popular styles, but also the evolution of their purpose. You’ll never look at your home the same way again.
2. Brewing Ingredients
New York has a large brewing industry. In fact, between 2013 – 2014, New York’s craft beer industry grew by 59%, with an estimated economic impact of $3.5 billion. You don’t have to be a beer aficionado to enjoy this class – just someone with an appreciation for making a quality product. And who knows – your beer could become the next Saranac Brewery!
3. Consumer Chemistry
Have you ever wondered exactly what chemicals are going into favorite bath products? Or even that late-night frozen burrito? If you haven’t wondered, you may want to try another class, but if you have, this can be pretty insightful information. Chemical compounds can be green, toxic, flammable, or just about anything in between – and they get mixed together and shipped to our grocery stores, water treatment plants, and pharmaceutical manufacturers every day. After this class, you may be looking at your favorite products in a whole new way.
Schenectady County Community College
4. Criminal Investigation Analysis – Profiling Serial Killers
If there is one thing that can both fascinate and terrify entire cities and states over long periods of time, it is serial killers. From Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, and the fictional Hannibal Lecter, serial killers have been studied for their brutality and their ability to maintain a low profile. This class introduces some of the reasons that make serial killers “tick.” You’ll be dying to take it.
Herkimer County Community College
5. Earth’s Fury
Do you live and breathe weather? Is Al Roker your hero? Well, this class can combine your love of both. Al Roker got his start in weather at SUNY Oswego, and now you can, too. This class looks at geological events happening because of humans – earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and more. And, with so many weather events happening through the year, there is always something new to learn.
6. Managing New Product Design and Development
It seems like every day we are hearing about a new gadget or app out there. Whether it’s a phone, a toy, a car, there is always a craze for the latest piece of technology. But what does it take to design those “gotta have it” items? This class looks at the process of research and development, marketing, finance, and manufacturing to get your product from idea to reality. Your idea could be the next great one!
7. Personality Theory
What’s your Myers-Briggs type (I’m an ISTJ, by the way.)? Where are you in your family birth order (oldest)? Right-handed or left handed (right)? For years, psychologists have tried to provide insight into our personalities based on very simple questions. This class lets you explore some of these theories and how they work on the people you meet every day. You might just even gain a new found understanding of yourself, too.
8. Voter Math
Big Foot, the Abominable Snowman, the Loch Ness Monster. What do these three things all have in common? They all are creatures that most people find easier to explain than the Electoral College. If election season math leaves you scratching your head most of the time, this class could be for you. And with the election season just starting to heat up, knowing the math behind it will make you one knowledgeable voter.
9. Happiness, Health and Wellbeing
Happiness is what we, as a society, believe we will achieve when we have completed work, sacrificed for a family member, or studied long into the night. But what if happiness is much more achievable? What if we can find a little bit of happiness every day? Pharrell found his “happy” – and in this class, you can too!
10. Complementary and Alternative Medicine
For centuries, cultures have explored the healing properties of alternative therapies. From acupuncture and homeopathy to tai chi, herbal medicine, and even reiki, there are many forms of treatment for whatever ails you. This class looks at how all of them developed across the world and how they can be integrated into your life.
BONUS:
Assertiveness Training
Does speaking in public frighten you? Do you lack directness and authority in your communication? This Open SUNY+ program elective course helps you polish your skills as an assertive communicator. In one semester you can go from a Nervous Nelly to a Confident Cathy through the speech exercises in this class.
Thanks for the courses but are they open to US only or worldwide.