It was always an inevitable question when you were 5 years old — teachers asked it, parents inquired about it, great aunts twice removed wondered about it — what do you want to be when you grow up? Students always have far-fetched visions of their dream job in their elementary school days. Did you want to explore the deep recesses of space? There’s a class for you. Did you long to battle fires or save pets’ lives? Syracuse University has a few options. Pulp’s class guide could help you realize your childhood whims.

Astronaut

AST 101: ‘Our Corner of the Universe’

An obvious class choice in pursuing this career is one related to astronomy. Professor Duncan Brown said knowledge of space and the physics behind it is essential.

‘If somebody wanted to be an astronaut, you’d want to be inspired about space,’ said Duncan, who has been teaching the class for a better part of three and a half years. ‘You want to have a passion for doing it.’

Duncan splits up the four-credit class into three sections, which include following the motion of celestial bodies, looking at the early study of astronomy and analyzing how the solar system was formed.

Duncan said he realizes many students take the AST 101 course as a liberal arts requirement. Looking at the big questions that surround space helps inspire potential astronauts.

‘It’s a lot of hard training,’ Brown said. ‘In order to get through that training, you want to be inspired to go and create knowledge. That’s what AST 101 is all about.’

 

AEE 427: ‘Aircraft Performance and Dynamics’

If you want to take thousands of tons of steel and jet fuel into space, you might want to learn how the aircraft actually works — that’s where the AEE 427 course comes in.

Professor John Dannenhoffer will teach the class for the first time in the fall, though he’s been at SU for nine years.

The aspect of the class that stands out the most may be something you didn’t even know existed on campus — a flight simulator. Students will get the closest thing to firsthand experience in an aircraft without leaving campus.

‘They will understand aircrafts and how they work, and they’ll understand what they’ll sense while being in the simulator,’ Dannenhoffer said.

Though the class focuses more on airplanes, not spacecrafts, Dannenhoffer said the ‘Aircraft Performance and Dynamics’ course teaches practical lessons that astronauts need to know.

‘Many of the astronauts started off as pilots,’ he said. ‘Understanding how to control complex systems is one of the key skills that astronauts need.’

 

Veterinarian

BIO 424: ‘Comparative Vertebrate Biology’ 

Geared toward upperclassmen with several semesters of natural sciences under their belts, this spring-only course analyzes animals with spinal cords, said assistant professor Marilyn Kerr.

Junior biology and anthropology major Olivia Perez,who is currently taking the four-credit course, said students dissect and skin the typical specimens of each class of vertebrates, closely studying different muscles and organ systems, in the required labs.

‘We’ve been spending the past four weeks working with sharks, cats, dogs, all different animals,’ Perez said.

The course incorporates embryology, the development of species and their structures. Students deem the subject difficult but helpful in fine-tuning their understanding of animals, Kerr said.

‘Students who have gone on to veterinary schools have written me, saying that while they disliked all the embryology I put in the class, it was a lifesaver,’ she said.

 

HNR 230: ‘Scientific Issues and Practice (Zoo Management)’

Offered next fall through the Renée Crown University Honors Program and taught by adjunct instructors Adrienne Whiteley and Ted Fox, this one-credit seminar gives students an inside look at how to operate a modern zoo.  

Non-honors students can petition to sign into the course, but will only be admitted if the class isn’t filled to capacity with honors students and if they academically qualify, said Hanna Richardson, associate deputy director.

The course covers veterinary medicine, training, population management, and animal behavior and welfare, said Whiteley, who worked at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo for 34 years.

The instructors often bring in live animals and artifacts, allowing students to observe and sometimes even handle them. At the end of the semester, students head over to Whiteley’s workplace for an extensive, behind-the-scenes tour.

Whiteley said: ‘It enhances the experience to see something live or to see parts of something you wouldn’t ordinarily see.’

 

Teacher

WRT 205: ‘Critical Research and Writing’

The WRT 205 course— or its WRT 209 honors complement — is a solid class and often required to complete one’s degree anyway. With 15 sections planned for fall 2011 between the two courses, students won’t have any trouble getting into the class, which analyzes and practices critical research-based writing.

Students must also complete a service-learning project, working in a variety of nonprofit settings, including afterschool programs, preschools and day cares. With a mere 20 hours of service required to complete during the semester, a service-learning course is one great way to get experience outside of SU without overwhelming students, said Elizabeth Occhino, assistant director at the Center for Public Community Service. Students learn what goes into a teaching day, from the hours and planning necessary to the challenges and rewards.

 ‘Scratching the surface may encourage students to take the next step toward teaching or help them realize maybe it’s not for them,’ Occhino said.

 

CFE 444: ‘Schooling and Diversity’

The CFE 444 course, taught by associate professor Barbara Applebaum, explores diversity in schools, including race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, class, disability and sexual orientation. The class discusses inequalities based on different belief systems through discussions and the course curriculum.

‘There is so much I try to do in this course,’ Applebaum said. ‘In general, I try to take my students to the limits of what they think they know about diversity, show them what they think they know does, and then I challenge those limits so that new possibilities open up for them to consider.’

The ideas and lessons learned in this class help students to be better prepared to teach in urban schools, Applebaum said. Students can alter their judgment practices after the course to better understand people different from themselves.

‘If they are white, it helps them to understand how, as teachers, they might be complicit in perpetuating systemic racism, even if they think they are ‘good’ persons and ‘good’ teachers,’ Applebaum said. ‘Even for students of color, my course provides them a way to explain to others their experience by giving them terms to label what they experience.’

 

Athlete

SPM 395: ‘Psycho-Social Issues of Sport’

If you think sports are all physical, you have probably never played a sport. In fact, you may have not even ever watched a sport.

From maintaining your focus in the heat of a game as an athlete to sitting on the edge of your seat as you watch your favorite team lose, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the game or in the stands. There are a million things racing through your mind.

Such an intricate combination of communal and mental dynamics in sports makes a psychosocial study essential in gaining a deeper understanding of the way we perceive and play modern sports.

Right off the bat, you should know that the SPM 205: ‘Principles and Contemporary Issues in Sport Management’ course is a prerequisite for taking this class.

Once you get that out of the way, feel free to dive into a thorough examination of various psychological and social aspects of the sports world. 

 

PED 209: ‘Adventure Activities’

Having an athletic background helps prepare you for many other aspects of your life. The importance of teamwork and the values of trust, respect and good communication can help you in a wide variety of areas. This class focuses on developing those skills, implementing them to your future field — whether it be athletic or any other.

Professor Scott Catucci said the one-credit course is open to all majors and focuses on improving teamwork skills through concentrating on five key principles: cooperation, communication, respect, responsibility and trust.

‘It’s not always about a competition, really, most of the time it’s about how can we work together,’ Catucci said. ‘The things we focus on are good skills to have going into a job, being able to facilitate activities, work toward building teams and thinking about group dynamics and leadership.’

 

Firefighter

HEA 336: ‘Cardiopulmonary Rescue’

This one-credit class prepares students to accurately deal with breathing and cardiac emergencies. This class also includes training to help aid victims of a cardiac arrest through an automated external defibrillation.

 

A typical day contains some lecture, said adjunct instructor William George, but there is also a hands-on aspect as he gets students to perform compressions and breaths, as well as practicing on dummies and on other students.

 

He said it is crucial to practice so that, through muscle memory, CPR becomes almost automatic.

‘It could provide precious care to a victim, where care or the lack thereof could mean life or death,’ George said.

 

PED 291: ‘Individualized Fitness’

This one-credit class helps students understand the concepts and benefits of overall health and the contraindications of poor health. They also learn about health ideas and fads through tabloids and other media-driven sources.

 

Student teacher Bernard Bush II usually sends notes via email regarding topics he believes are pertinent to health. He said he makes students keep a daily log of all of their exercise, as well as a track of their progress in attaining the goals they set at the beginning of the semester. Students are also given an option to join in on a group exercise session run by Bush.

 

‘People should take this class because I think it is a good window into the world of overall health, how it really is,’ he said. ‘Every day I discuss topics with curious students that range from the best workouts to lose weight, dieting and the idea behind nutritional cleansing techniques to combating sickness and disease.’  

Published on April 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm