Does USNA offer Taylor Swift courses?

navy/airforce-hopeful man

navy/airforce-hopeful man

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2022
Messages
120
Has anyone seen this? https://english.fas.harvard.edu/english-183ts-taylor-swift-and-her-world

I've heard that the Naval Academy likes to think of itself as being on-par with Ivy League schools when it comes to Academic merit and rigor. Seems like USNA is gonna have to keep up with the times if they want to uphold their reputation as a respectable institution.
 
It's probably a similar situation at Harvard, but at my Ivy, we had to take at least 2 courses marked as a Writing credit. For people who really didn't like writing (i.e. STEM majors), the English department offered tons of different courses with cool/niche subjects so you could at least choose a topic you were interested in to write a lot about over the course of the semester and get a Writing credit. The professors also helped you become a better writer in the course, and you had fun in the course. A win-win situation.
 
The most fun that I had academically at USNA was a course titled "Literature of the Sea" which was based on reading and then writing about some fiction ranging from the Odyssey to "Winds of War" by Herman Wouk. The course required us to read and do assignments on a total of 15 books over the 15 week semester. Absolutely HUGE workload but I did enjoy it.
At the college where I teach, there are "senior seminars" for the budding engineers/scientists in their senior year which can also seem slightly frivolous but the real intent is getting them to think and write.
 
OldRetSWO said:
At the college where I teach, there are "senior seminars" for the budding engineers/scientists in their senior year which can also seem slightly frivolous but the real intent is getting them to think and write.
Click to expand...
I think the only thing lacking in my son’s high school was thinking/writing class. Schools seem to have gotten away from these course like when I attended.

That being said - my son worked hard at USNA with English professors and English PhDs and has become an excellent writer. For him the extra help wasn’t about grades, it was about learning how to write.
 
A1Janitor said:
I think the only thing lacking in my son’s high school was thinking/writing class. Schools seem to have gotten away from these course like when I attended.
Click to expand...
Perhaps it's from a nationwide push to teach AP classes? Seems like more and more, AP classes are seen as a prerequisite for competitive college admissions lately. High schools want to offer more APs, and students want to take more APs in different subjects, leaving less room for writing electives or philosophy courses. I know I filled up my schedule with AP courses in high school, and so did a lot of my classmates. It was seen as a way to make yourself look more competitive to colleges

I know there's AP English Language and AP Literature, but I'm unsure of what exactly is taught in these classes (I never took them myself). I don't think there's any sort of AP Philosophy (or other thinking class like that), but certain AP courses may touch on this (gov, history, etc).
 
If I remember right, kid took two AP English classes (11th and 12th). He definitely had a lot of writing in them.

I don't think he took all that many AP tests though. Cost thing, mainly.
 
In my day, USNA offered “Detective Fiction” and “Science Fiction” as electives. Of course, those required reading actual books on the topic and writing papers.

I’m a huge proponent of reading things other than what have traditionally been considered “the classics.” Including different genres. Not everyone loves Chaucer and Shakespeare and Hemingway. Heresy, I know. 😀
 
IronmanDaremo said:
If I remember right, kid took two AP English classes (11th and 12th). He definitely had a lot of writing in them.

I don't think he took all that many AP tests though. Cost thing, mainly.
Click to expand...
Those AP courses were only for honors English students to take their senior year at my high school. English was perhaps my least favorite subject in high school, and I strongly disliked the type of writing in my English courses. I didn't think I was a good writer at all either.

However, after taking political science courses in college, I realized that the type of writing in high school English courses, was not for me. Instead, the type of writing we do in political science was perfect for me, and I loved it. Those courses boosted my writing confidence. Looking back, I wish my high school had offered more types of writing courses to students, not just English.
 
usna1985 said:
In my day, USNA offered “Detective Fiction” and “Science Fiction” as electives. Of course, those required reading actual books on the topic and writing papers.

I’m a huge proponent of reading things other than what have traditionally been considered “the classics.” Including different genres. Not everyone loves Chaucer and Shakespeare and Hemingway. Heresy, I know. 😀
Click to expand...
Detective fiction class would be awesome.

They can have Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Hemingway. I will take Dostoevsky, Dickens, and Steinbeck. Hell I would take Patterson, Grisham and Rowling over them. ;)
 
A1Janitor said:
Detective fiction class would be awesome.

They can have Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Hemingway. I will take Dostoevsky, Dickens, and Steinbeck. Hell I would take Patterson, Grisham and Rowling over them. ;)
Click to expand...
What about the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie?
 
A1Janitor said:
I read all of the Hercule Poirot books on my own outside of school. You can have Marple. AC was one of my favorites.
Click to expand...
I just started reading some of AC's books on my own time last year. Sadly, haven't been able to find the time lately due to school. :(
 
Ivy22 said:
Perhaps it's from a nationwide push to teach AP classes? Seems like more and more, AP classes are seen as a prerequisite for competitive college admissions lately. High schools want to offer more APs, and students want to take more APs in different subjects, leaving less room for writing electives or philosophy courses. I know I filled up my schedule with AP courses in high school, and so did a lot of my classmates. It was seen as a way to make yourself look more competitive to colleges

I know there's AP English Language and AP Literature, but I'm unsure of what exactly is taught in these classes (I never took them myself). I don't think there's any sort of AP Philosophy (or other thinking class like that), but certain AP courses may touch on this (gov, history, etc).
Click to expand...
I think you are onto something. I've heard college professors say that IB students are better critical thinkers/better writers than AP students. That is the theory on why AP added AP Seminar and AP Research to their offerings. My son is taking these. Unfortunately, I haven't seen colleges that give credits for AP scores. I don't think they know what college courses they would match up to, yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top