Tufts Blogs

One of the things I love about Tufts is the ability to take classes that fit into very specific niches of study. From courses on dinosaurs to courses on Jane Austen and Mary Shelley, at Tufts, truly nothing is off-limits. I’ve taken classes that I never thought would exist, let alone take in college. Many of these unique courses also helped me fulfill my distribution requirements. Here are a few of my favorite, unique courses that I’ve taken at Tufts. 

1. Dinosaurs!
Yes, we do have a course on dinosaurs at Tufts. The course is literally called “Dinosaurs!”—and yes, the exclamation mark is included. This course explores the entire life cycle of dinosaurs, from their origins to their extinction, and examines the “lore” surrounding the fascination with dinosaurs, as seen in films like Jurassic Park. Not only did this course pique my interest because I, like many of us, have always been fascinated by dinosaurs, but it also counted for one of my natural sciences requirements. 

2. Surveillance: Data and Power 
As a certified humanities/social sciences person, I never thought I'd take a course in the Computer Science Department, but the course description for Surveillance: Data and Power caught my attention. This was one of my favorite courses I’ve ever taken at Tufts. The course explores the history of surveillance, going back to lantern laws in the 18th century, to modern-day surveillance methods that pervade almost every area of our lives. I did my final project on how Spotify uses surveillance methods to “enhance user experience.” This course also helped me fulfill one of my math distribution requirements as well. 

3. Women’s Visions in Global Film 
According to Variety, of the top 250 grossing films of 2024, women accounted for 22% of directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers. When I saw that this course only focused on female-made films, I was instantly intrigued. The course also focuses on non-American films and filmmakers in particular. Each week, we would focus on a different area of the world and/or a theme and watch films that correlated. This course was also very helpful for my academic journey, as I was able to count it for an arts distribution credit, a world civilization credit, AND for my Film and Media Studies minor. 

4. Concepts of the Cosmos 
I took Concepts of the Cosmos for a natural sciences requirement, and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. I learned so much about our planet, our solar system, and beyond. For one of the projects, my group and I studied a solar system similar to our own, and compared and contrasted how the solar system operates differently or similarly to our own. We also made a model of both solar systems at the Craft Center, a place open to all students with free craft supplies.

 
5. Contemporary Multi-Ethnic Literature  
As an English major, I have read a lot of books in my time, but I haven’t read a ton of contemporary books in any of my courses. In this course, everything we read was published within the last ten years and was written by BIPOC authors. This course was unlike any other English class I’ve ever taken, not just because of the books we read, but the discussions we had as well. It was very refreshing to study more modern books and explore them in the context of our modern day. 

These examples are just a taste of the types of varied courses that you could take at Tufts. Hopefully in my final year I’ll be able to take more interesting courses both in and outside of my major. We also have something at Tufts called the Experimental College (known as the ExCollege) that allows current students and visiting faculty to create a course that is entirely their own. Any student at Tufts can teach or take an ExCollege course. One of my friends is teaching an ExCollege class this coming fall on cowboy culture in the American West. From the ExCollege to just our regular course offerings at Tufts, there are so many interesting, unique courses available.