Sharpen your pencils, little monsters: The University of Virginia is offering a class on Lady Gaga called “GaGa for Gaga: Sex, Gender, and Identity.” Taught by grad student Christa Romanosky, the Lady Gaga class is a prerequisite course to essay writing on the theme of how the mama monster pushes social boundaries. Students will listen to Gaga’s music and watch her music videos, but also read about her influence on feminism and gender expression. UVA has also offered Harry Potter-themed classes to make prerequisite essay courses more interesting. 
 
 Certainly, questioning gender roles and sexual norms should be done by every college student; since it’s a writing course, the Lady Gaga theme may be a way to feed the spinach, so to speak, to kids who would otherwise never sign up for a gender studies class. But are stylish topics really the best way to impart lessons for life — whether it’s writing lessons or gender studies lessons? Wouldn’t expository writing students be better off studying essays from The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly all semester? 
 
 You could argue that a critical analysis of Lady Gaga will teach students the skills to think analytically for life. But why not then use a meatier topic that gives students a more useful knowledge base? I’m not suggesting that pop culture is not worth analyzing — I write about it myself all the time — just that this particular pop culture moment is ephemeral and it will pass. Today, college professors are teaching Lady Gaga, 20 years ago they were teaching Madonna, and maybe five from now it will be Miley Cyrus. 
 
 Education doesn’t need to be old-fashioned, canonical and boring to be of value. I simply harbor my own regrets, though, for having taken courses in stylish topics and I suspect there will be a few students who eventually ask themselves, “Why the hell did I take that class on Lady Gaga?” 
 
 [Cavalier Daily] ||||| One of the best things about college—besides getting out of your parents’ house, eating Easy Mac at midnight and dorm parties—is the classes. Sure, classes are the reason you have to roll out of bed before noon after staying up half the night finishing an essay, but they can be fun if you give ‘em a chance. Aside from the regular stuff like boring-history-with-an-ancient-professor and math-you’ll-never-use-again, colleges are now offering a few classes so crazy you might be excited to attend. 
 
 Zombies 101. Although it has the boring title English 333, the University of Baltimore is offering a class on zombies. The professor (and author of a book on zombie movies called Zombiemania ), Arnold Blumberg, will have students watch 16 movies about the undead and read a bunch of comics. [Baltimore Sun] 
 
 Although it has the boring title English 333, the University of Baltimore is offering a class on zombies. The professor (and author of a book on zombie movies called ), Arnold Blumberg, will have students watch 16 movies about the undead and read a bunch of comics. [Baltimore Sun] Bottoms up! Show me one person who isn’t down to take West Virginia University’s wine tasting class called “Vines to Wines” and I’ll show you a liar. Hair of the dog, anyone? [HighBeam] 
 
 Show me one person who isn’t down to take West Virginia University’s wine tasting class called and I’ll show you a liar. Hair of the dog, anyone? [HighBeam] Coasting along. Elon University, a liberal arts institution in North Carolina, offers class called “Business of NASCAR.” Students learn all about the financial specs of the sport as well as what it’s like to risk your neck racing other crazy dudes. [Her Campus] 
 
 Elon University, a liberal arts institution in North Carolina, offers class called Students learn all about the financial specs of the sport as well as what it’s like to risk your neck racing other crazy dudes. [Her Campus] Prof of the rings. Believe it or not, Bowdoin College actually has something called “ Tolkien’s Middle Ages,” in which students learn about those epic and fantastical novels. They can be pretty complicated in parts so keep in mind that just because you liked the movies doesn’t mean you’re going to dig the class. [Her Campus] 
 
 Believe it or not, Bowdoin College actually has something called “ in which students learn about those epic and fantastical novels. They can be pretty complicated in parts so keep in mind that just because you liked the movies doesn’t mean you’re going to dig the class. [Her Campus] PETA class. Bowdoin College does it again with “The Souls of Animals” which examines, you guessed it, whether animals have souls and are capable of moral action. Wear leather on the first day and see if you get attacked by vegan chicks in hemp. [Her Campus] 
 
 Bowdoin College does it again with which examines, you guessed it, whether animals have souls and are capable of moral action. Wear leather on the first day and see if you get attacked by vegan chicks in hemp. [Her Campus] Home Ec. For the Martha Stewarts in us all, the University of California at San Diego has “Underwater Basket Weaving.” Will you ever use this skill again? Probably not. Also, why is it underwater? To plan ahead for the days when we all have gills? [Online Colleges] 
 
 For the Martha Stewarts in us all, the University of California at San Diego has Will you ever use this skill again? Probably not. Also, why is it underwater? To plan ahead for the days when we all have gills? [Online Colleges] Circle jerk. If you think diddling yourself is easier than doing homework, “Cyberporn and Society” at the State University of New York at Buffalo is perfect. Of course, you could also try “Cinema and the Sex Act” at the University of California, Berkeley, which requires that students watch NC-17 flicks like “Showgirls.” If anime porn is more your style, enroll in “Anthropology of the Unconscious” at New York University. There’s also University of Iowa’s “Pornography in Popular Culture.” Tissues not included. [Time] 
 
 If you think diddling yourself is easier than doing homework, at the State University of New York at Buffalo is perfect. Of course, you could also try at the University of California, Berkeley, which requires that students watch NC-17 flicks like “Showgirls.” If anime porn is more your style, enroll in at New York University. There’s also University of Iowa’s Tissues not included. [Time] Far out. If you really, really like “The Far Side” comics, why not delve into “Far Side Entomology” at Oregon State University? Professor Michael Burgett uses comics to teach students about everything from bugs and garbage to super heroes and human interaction. [OSU] 
 
 Tell us: What was the strangest class you ever took?
– Lady Gaga: Worthy of a college class? Apparently so, at least according to the University of Virginia. (For more on “GaGa for Gaga: Sex, Gender, and Identity,” click here.) The Frisky rounds up eight more college courses that sound insane…in a good way: Zombies: At the University of Baltimore, English 333 is actually a course on the undead. Students will watch 16 zombie movies and read comics, too. Wine Tasting: Really, it’s a class on wine tasting. Do you need to hear anything else? Underwater Basket Weaving: You probably thought that course was just a joke, right? Apparently the University of California at San Diego actually offers it. Comics: Oregon State University found a fun way to teach entomology: by relating it to the popular comic series The Far Side. For the complete list, including a surprising number of classes about porn, click here.