Seven of the best USF classes

Class: Issues in Sports
Department: Physical Education
Professor: Robert Mertzman

This class is ideal for anyone who wants to work at their own pace and take a class that is fun and engaging. The course is offered as an on-line or telecourse class. Students are responsible for reading the text and watching the corresponding material on the provided DVD. Students are then given the opportunity to voice their opinion by posting short essays about current issues in sport. The class is ideal for avid sports fans and novice sport spectators alike. It also counts towards two of the elusive exit requirements needed for graduation.

Mark Lennox — Managing Editor

Class: Arts & Letters
Department: Humanities
Professor: Paula Lee

Offering one of the most interesting and challenging electives in the department, Lee focuses on different themes in arts each semester. I was lucky enough to partake in a section titled “Beauty and the Beast,” which focused on the animal/human/bestial elements and motifs in art, literature, even fairy tales. Lee is a hard professor, so expect to work for your grade, but a mesmerizing one: her knowledge is expansive enough to interest anyone and she communicated her ideas with utmost clarity though sometimes also utmost speed.

Olga Robak — Adjunct Editor

Class: Expository Writing
Department: Creative Writing
Professor: Danita Feinberg

The best class I’ve ever taken at USF was Expository Writing, under the instruction of Danita Feinberg. The course was run like a workshop. Students were put into groups of three in which we discussed and proofread each other’s work. It was great and incredibly helpful to have the opinions of my peers before I turned in my work. Danita was an amazing teacher. She created an atmosphere in which it was easy to share and participate. I can honestly say that my written work has improved significantly as a result of this course.

Angie Napoleon — Copy Editor

Class: Honors Ethics
Department: Honors College
Professor: Georg Kleine

The most satisfying course I’ve taken thus far at USF was a section of Honors Ethics taught by Georg Kleine, associate dean of the Honors College. In a world (both academic and plebeian) that seems to be increasingly unconcerned with the role of ethics, Kleine’s course allowed the students to explore the grey areas from which most people seek shelter. What’s more, halfway through the course we got to take a break from the fussing and fighting and stumble around the woods of Chinsegut at midnight. Mind the wake-up call, though — it’s a doozy.

Brad Bautista — Associate Editor

Class: Anthropological Linguistics
Department: Anthropology
Professor: Jacqueline Messing

I enjoyed this class mainly because of the professor. We discussed interesting topics and she genuinely cared about our responses and opinions. She kept the class fun by showing us videos and cool Web sites that pertained to the topic we were learning about. The tests were super easy and as long as you knew the main idea of the questions you got it right. She knew what she was talking about and had many interesting stories to share.

Jessica Hartman — Montage Editor


Class: Human Sexual Behavior
Department: Women’s Studies
Professor: Nancy Barbara

Human Sexual Behavior was the best time I’ve had in class at USF. Let me put it this way, it was at 8 a.m. in the summer, and I never missed a class. Granted the topic at hand made discussions even more eye opening than the blackest coffee. Barbara did not only discuss sex, but applied those relationships to real-world life and love. She also explained the importance of protection, which I think is very important to drill into the heads of hormonal college students.

Lori Bartlett — Montage Editor

Class: Advanced Drawing
Department : Art
Professor: Theo Wujcik

Advanced Drawing with Theo Wujcik is not only my favorite class, but also the most intimidating class I have ever taken in college. I felt very nervous taking this 4000 level course during my freshman year during the fall of ’02. It was very fast paced and demanded a lot from the student. I found myself drawing more pieces that semester than I had drawn in years. Wujcik was a great instructor; always ready to lend a hand, but challenging at the same time. I owe a lot of what I know now about drawing to that class.

Marlow Gum — Production Assistant