By Vivian Kalla
After receiving feedback from students about the lack of stimulating elective choices, Lewis & Clark administrators have decided to broaden the course catalog for the 2026-27 school year. The new course catalog includes some striking elective offerings. There is no need to frantically search through this unexplored territory of academia, for I will share my top recommendations.
GEO 415 – California Bay Area Geography
I am not the only one who has been deeply confused about what the San Francisco Bay even looks like. I constantly hear chatter about the East Bay and the Peninsula, and wonder what these mystifying words mean. After sitting in on this class, I finally understand why everyone from SF — the proper abbreviation. Do not call it San Fran. They will kill you — has a deep-rooted hatred for people from Marin. Oddly enough, most of the class was made up of people from the Bay Area and other parts of California who were not taught local geography in their public schools. Assignments included presenting a Google Maps route using BART, getting a septum piercing, and coming to class every day with a Yerba Madre. These assignments might seem unrelated to geography but this class also counts for the Culture, Power and Identity general education requirement so students are encouraged to connect with Bay Area culture through cuisine and attire.
CORE 101 – Intro to Microwaving (required course for Copeland residents)
This two-credit pass/fail course was added to the catalog at the request of our Campus Safety officers, who have grown tired of constantly making the trek to Copeland to disarm the fire alarm after some stoned dumbass torched their popcorn in the microwave for the third time that week. Now a mandatory class for anyone residing in Copeland Hall, “Intro to Microwaving” teaches students how to properly heat various foods in the microwave. It is also highly recommended for anyone new to cooking via radiation. Instruction is provided by the Bon Appétit chefs alongside teaching assistants from the physics department. This course is an intensive, week-long dive into the different forms of electromagnetic waves. In all transparency, my coverage of this is somewhat of a conflict of interest, because I made a bet with a Dovecote barista on whether or not the C wing will be reduced to ash by October.
BIO 138 – Psychoactive Plants of the Pacific Northwest
It is generally frowned upon to eat things in labs, especially the materials for your experiments, but if a couple of mushrooms go missing, are they really gonna notice? Maybe sign up with a friend so you can take turns trip-sitting each other during lectures. You know, buddy system. This class has been very popular with the drug-lovers of Lewis & Clark, with several students expressing a desire for a 200-level marijuana growing lab. The Biology department was surprised by the waitlist numbers this fall, so they will offer two sections in the Spring semester to meet student interest. Who knew botany could be so fun?
ECON 444 – Lewis & Clark Finance Committee Practicum
Break out your finest business casual and take LC financial matters into your own hands with this new Economics practicum. In this class students gain hands-on experience in finance management at a grand scale. There are some prerequisites for this class but I’ve heard you can get them waived by buying $500 worth of flex points. I do not know anything about finance, but within a couple of days of my practicum experience, I have already reworked the LC budget to reopen Watzek Library 24/7. You are welcome, everyone.
ART/PSY 621 – Study of Anthro-Anatomy
The course number for this class may shock some of you. You might be thinking: “Oh mighty reporter, I thought undergrad classes only went into the 400s?” And you would be correct. This class is offered at the graduate school and is interdisciplinary with their art therapy program. Due to a rise in anti-furry sentiment on campus, trainees from the Counseling Center have lobbied for the addition of this course. Some prerequisites include having a fursona, being vegan but owning real leather Doc Martens, and taking PSY 100. I heard from some of the students in the course that for extra credit they can draw furry porn of the professor’s fursona and share it on their DeviantArt accounts. Grad professors freaky as hell, I guess.
All of these classes are going to be offered in the Spring semester, so make sure you plan out your schedules accordingly on Self Service (R.I.P. WebAdvisor). Please note the locations of these classes since most are being held in the Howard basement and the Akin boiler room due to a lack of open classrooms.
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