Class Registration

First week of November and the weather has been 70 degrees and sunny! This is not typical Virginia weather but we definitely don't mind. On Monday I lay on the Lawn for the majority of the afternoon, watching the scene and remembering the first few balmy weeks of the school year. People were lounging all over like myself, and a few groups had started tossing Frisbees around. Charlottesville families came by, too, as they often do on pretty days, and set up picnics in front of the Rotunda. It's difficult to sit inside of a classroom when this rare weather graces us, which is why I was thrilled to have my English discussion outside on the amphitheater steps.

This week, besides the Maryland game on Saturday, the talk around College classrooms is class registration. Upperclassmen in each school meet a different experience, and in the College of Arts and Sciences (CLAS) , our older years are spent in seminars and higher level major classes. The other schools, like Engineering and Architecture, usually keep upperclassmen students on a tighter schedule, which makes sense; for example, my 3rd-year Nursing School friend Kate is spending a lot of time this year (and even more time next year) in the hospital itself for her "clinicals." Clinicals prepare nursing students for their careers through extreme hands-on training. The other undergrad schools encourage this sort of practice. CLAS students are, as always, practicing critical thinking and research, simply on a higher level than in their underclassmen years.

Which brings me to class registration. Every student upon arrival at U.Va has a faculty advisor, who alone can give them access to the online class registration system. In order to take classes, I must first visit my advisor, who approves my schedule and checks to make sure I've got a major in mind. While my advisor first and second year was a Portugese professor, since they're assigned randomly, I got to choose a new advisor when I declared a major (which you can do at any time, but at least before your 3rd year). My major, American Studies, is a small interdisciplinary one. There are thirty Amstud majors altogether, and we had to apply for admission into the program. Most students can simply declare their major, with the exception of a few programs like Amstud: Political and Social Thought, Government Honors, Systems Engineering, etc.

American Studies has been an awesome experience since I began it this fall. We combine a number of disciplines into our study, and discuss their broader connections and implications in a rigorous discussion. We are required to take two seminars our third year and a third seminar our fourth year; the topics range from "Theater and the American City" to "American Orientalism and WWII Film." To fulfill the major otherwise, I need to take 7 higher-level classes that are somehow connected to the study of America, like "History of the American City," "History of Jazz," "Sociology of the Family," and countless others. Actually, here's the approved list of classes for my major, which should also provide insight into the general nature of courses offered at U.Va: http://www.virginia.edu/americanstudies/html/courses-app.html

So! On November 17th, after receiving my access code from my advisor, I go online at a designated time and sign up for the classes that intrigue me. In my experience, the schedule I begin with at registration time is vastly different than the one I actually use next semester. Since students are free to rearrange their schedules until the two weeks after classes begin, courses are constantly opening and closing, and an email to a professor goes a long way.

Sounds confusing, but I used my upperclassmen friends as resources to figure out the system when it eluded me, and after a while it becomes old hat. This semester I'm dying to take "Theater and the American City," and I'd like to try a physical education class like skiing or snowboarding - why not? Though I hear the Appalachian Mountains are pretty different than the Rockies I'm used to . . .

Off to enjoy the weekend and the weather,
Shannon