Stuck in those classes that have you scrolling on your phone rather than paying attention to your professor? Are you longing for something intellectually stimulating to help reignite that spark for learning?  

Well, let the opinion desk help you out! We have put together our list of favorite classes that can tickle any educational enthusiast’s fancy. From classes about logic games, sci-fi film and pop culture debate, to philanthropic impact in the Bryan-College Station area, take these into consideration as you prepare to register for next semester’s classes. 

Associate Opinion Editor Maeva Elizabé

PHIL 240 Introduction to Logic

I can guarantee you’ve never taken a class quite like this before, and that’s the beauty of it. The mental workings required to navigate the material of PHIL 240 are so much different from any other run-of-the-mill course, so new and unique, that you can truly feel your brain rewiring itself as the semester crawls by. You either love it or hate it — evidently, I fall into the former category. 

It’s a mathematical-based course on account of having to analyze the relationships between components and use proof systems and logical operators to evaluate the validity of symbolic statements. And yet, simultaneously, it’s just as much a linguistics course, as the ability to dissect arguments and translate them into various equivalent forms is at the heart of PHIL 240. But there’s also a lifeline for the scientists in the bunch, because the content demands a reasoning capacity all too familiar for those spending hours in the lab drawing deductive and inductive conclusions from evidence.

This course is the missing piece to the interdisciplinary puzzle, the golden goose class that allows the indecisive — or jack-of-all-trades — student to bridge the gap between the humanities and the sciences.

Associate Opinion Editor Joshua Abraham

FILM 434 History and Film

FILM 434 explores the intricate intersection between film and the historical past, an intersection that many people might gloss over but reveals incredibly important details about how our society perceives the media we consume. In a political climate as volatile as ours, there’s a great need to understand our history for us to not repeat it, and what better way to do that than through seeing others’ perspectives on historical accounts? It’s a heavy class, but it’s one that should be necessary for everyone in order to grow our media literacy skills. 

From “The Missing Picture,” where the director narrativises his genocide-oppressed upbringing, to speculative archives in classics like “The Watermelon Woman,” the films presented in this class not only allowed me to consume media that challenged my worldview, but allowed me to be consumed by another worldview — the recipe to success in educational growth. 

Senior Opinion Columnist Isabella Garcia

PHIL 376 Philosophy, Film and Evil: Aliens, Androids and Avatars

I’ve always loved movies. 

The media we indulge in, however, is a consequence of our preferences, effectively categorizing us within a status hierarchy. Those in power have historically reified their authority by differentiating themselves from the poor; taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier. The increasing accessibility of film to the masses has therefore prompted elitist labels of the medium as being superficial, kitsch or even degenerate. 

By contrast, PHIL 376 demonstrated that meaning comes not from the movie but the critical lens with which we approach it. I learned about existentialism and what it means to live in bad faith after watching “Minority Report,” and I was confronted with humanity’s hypocritical tendency to be consequentialists when we’re mad at someone but suddenly switch to deontology when we’re the ones to blame. Nietzsche was taught alongside “Interstellar,” Plato alongside “The Matrix”; I was given the tools to understand film, philosophy and the world around me — but most significantly, myself. 

Opinion Columnist Sidney Uy

PHIL 409: Gender and Philosophy 

Do all feminists agree with each other?

While academics and students are being hounded by a Board of Regents whose collective paranoia regarding the “suspicious” liberal arts is prioritized over students, I return to a class that actually taught me democratic Aggie values: PHIL 409.

Before the creation and enforcement of the notoriously unintelligible Civil Rights Protections and Compliance policy, this class proved to be one of the most important seminars I could have ever taken. We discussed topics like why feminism can be for everyone, why institutionalized discipline affects women’s perception of the self and the body and how today’s categories of race and gender were conceived in tandem; I learned a great deal about where certain ideas originated from. We didn’t, however, take for granted these ideas — we often argued against them. Some of us didn’t even identify with the label “feminist” or “woman”; in fact, male students, too, took this class. Rarely did we ever arrive at one simple conclusion about “what women are” or what “female freedom” is. Rather, we engaged in respectful, informed discussions while building up our own arguments. Although the new unversity policy might hollow out much of this course, I will forever remember the intellectual friendships I developed in an environment that encouraged me to disagree and take on complexity. Most of all, it helped become a passionate writer, which nourishes me and gives me purpose. If that isn’t ideally or sufficiently Aggie, I don’t know what is. I can only hope that the next generation of Aggies can find a class that offers the same kind of home that PHIL 409 did and positively transform its students, too.

Opinion Columnist Wyatt Pickering

BUSN 432 Strategic Philanthropy

As the token business student of the opinion desk, I have to shout out the greatest class provided to students at Mays Business School!

BUSN 432, taught by Professor Kyle Gammenthaler, Ph.D., combines lessons about the nonprofit sector with hands-on philanthropy in the form of grantmaking. As someone who has always been passionate about working with nonprofits, this was a class I knew I had to take. At the end of the course, my class was able to gift 10 local nonprofits $170,000 in grants to support their mission and daily operations. Interacting with nonprofit leaders and seeing why they are so passionate about the work they do is an experience that I will never take for granted. 

If you’re interested in working with nonprofits or just want to give back to the Bryan-College Station community, BUSN 432 gives you the skill set to practice generosity at its highest level. 

Opinion Writer Abby Morris

POLS 420 Nuclear Politics

If you want a class that’s equal parts fascinating and terrifying, then don’t miss POLS 420 with Professor Matt Fuhrmann, Ph.D.! 

When I first registered for the course, I didn’t even think I was interested in this area of political science, but I ended up loving it. Throughout the semester, I learned about the intricacies of nuclear weapons, types of deterrence, diplomacy and different schools of thought. There’s no doubt that Fuhrmann is an expert in the field and loves what he does. Furthermore, he’s a great professor; he even deviated from the syllabus for a day to talk about the war with Iran and to try and help us understand what led up to it. He is a captivating lecturer, and it’s evident he wants to help you learn. If you’re interested in national security and foreign policy, or just want a cool elective, I highly recommend this class.

Opinion Writer Prachi Arora

SOCI 304 Criminology

SOCI 304 is the kind of class that quietly rewrites how you see the world, not by telling you what to think about crime, but by teaching you how to think about it. What starts as a course on crime rates, policing and prisons quickly turns into something much bigger: an exploration of why people commit crimes and how society decides what even counts as “crime” in the first place.

And, of course, nothing bonds a class quite like watching people get brutally murdered on screen at 8 a.m. — a truly unmatched educational experience.

From media portrayals of violence to deep dives into theories, you begin to notice patterns everywhere: in the news, in conversations and even in your own assumptions. It’s one of those classes that sticks with you, giving you the tools to analyze the world — and, admittedly, everyone around you — long after the semester ends.

Opinion Writer Thea Findlay

COMM 340 Communication and Popular Culture

Have you ever wished you could mix your studies with your real-life interests? COMM 340 is the absolute perfect class for anyone curious in understanding our identities and ideologies as they relate to our fascination with anything, from sports teams to reality TV stars. It’s to be taught by professor Michael Rold, Ph.D., again in Fall 2026, who’s an absolute joy and leads entertaining class discussions about the topics of pop culture that are often dismissed in university-level courses. 

From discussions on the Kardashians to “Breaking Bad,” COMM 340 is an absolute blast that actually deepens our media literacy. In a world where media consumption is at an all time high, this class stresses the importance of how popular culture contributes to and reflects our social world today.

Opinion Writer Marie Kneeland

ENGL 222 World Literature

I always like to “rank” my classes through three categories: course material, engagement and takeaways. In other words, I determine how much I enjoyed my classes based on how much I liked what we read, how interesting the lectures were and how much I felt I truly learned when the semester was over.

Required courses usually rank fairly low on that scale, but I can say with complete honesty that ENGL 222 with Professor Apostolos Vasilakis, Ph.D., or “Dr. V” as the class called him, was one of the best classes I’ve taken to date. Not only were the books we read entertaining and terrific representations of varied cultures from across the globe, but Dr. V gave some of the most intellectual lectures I’ve heard. After every class, the other students and I would walk out of the room talking about how much we learned. Even now I recommend the books I read in that course, and I could tell you almost everything I learned about them.

Opinion Writer Bethany Mann

HIST 301 Blacks in the United States Since 1877

I recently argued that we need to stop romanticizing the past, and no class makes this more evident than HIST 301 with Professor Albert S. Broussard, Ph.D. Starting at the end of the Reconstruction Period, this class takes you through the economic, social and political lives of African Americans as they struggled to find their place in society. Our secondary history education leads a white-centered narrative of history that fails to tell the story of a crucial group of people, overlooking a movement central to the idea of what it means to be American. This course made me fully understand the nuances of American society today, because to paraphrase former Vice President Kamala Harris, we didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree; we exist in the context. 

Opinion Writer Aidan Zamany

ARTS 150 Art History Survey II

Any course that spans across the 14th century Renaissance to the 20th century contemporary arts movement is sure to offer an exciting and informative experience, and ARTS 150 with Professor Thomas Dorsch, Ph.D., certainly does just that. Classicists and cosmopolitans will especially enjoy the international voyage across continents and cultures, with comprehensive analyses of each civilization’s creativity expressed through a variety of unique mediums. Take this course if you want to explore the greatest examples of oil on canvas, ink on silk, wood etchings, marble statues and stone sculptures from Rome to Paris and Raphael to Poussin. While I cannot guarantee that you will end the semester as an expert art critic, I can promise that you will have learned valuable lessons in aesthetics and will approach your next gallery with newfound skills and an elevated appreciation.