MANY PORTLANDERS embrace the unofficial motto: “Keep Portland Weird!”, which is certainly reflected here at Lewis & Clark. Not only are LC students’ fashion trends and music tastes what I would admirably call weird, but so too are the classes. The attempt to live up to our liberal arts name has fostered the emergence of some niche, interesting classes. Every student at LC should take advantage of the opportunity to explore their own weirdness by enrolling in one of the many odd classes offered every semester.
Luckily, the wide range of classes make it so there is certainly an odd class offered that fits everyone’s interests. Listed below is a sampling of interesting classes offered this semester, but it is by no means the tip of the iceberg. This list will hopefully inspire at least one reader to put a niche class on their four-year plan for next semester. After all, L&C needs to keep the weird classes and even weirder professors.
CORE 120-09: (Ir)realities
For any first year looking to experience a healthy college student’s amount of existential dread, I would recommend this Words class. Like many other Words offerings, this class explores the humanities by engaging in texts and fostering critical approaches to writing. Professor of Hispanic Studies Matthew Rilliard’s students analyze various styles of media ranging from short stories, comics and plays to films and TV shows. Rilliard himself cites an episode of “Black Mirror” as his favorite thought provoking-piece he teaches. This class delves deep into these works and raises questions about the thin line separating reality from irreality.
“The focus of my class is on the nature of reality,” Rilliard said. “What is real, and how do we know what reality is?”
The class explores existential questions by looking back on ancient philosophy writings as well as modern media. Rilliard posed more questions that students will be asking throughout the course.
“How can I trust my senses? How do I know that this is real?” Rilliard said. “What are the things that give me confidence that what I’m seeing is actually real?”
In a world of rampant conspiracy theories and a continuous stream of conflicting news from various sources, the ability to distinguish reality from irreality has become increasingly important. This Words class allows students to build up those skills and refine their ability to stabilize information.
Although this class delves into some deep topics and has the potential to start unraveling reality in front of its students’ eyes, Rilliard believes that it is important for first years entering the college environment to have a class that can dramatically alter their worldview.
“You’re discovering all these things you didn’t know you didn’t know, and I think the course is kind of a good companion, because it recognizes the fact that people throughout history have been thrust into these crises of existential dread and doubt,” said Rilliard. “The point is learning how to cope with it and learning how to ask questions and realizing that you’re not alone in feeling this.”
This class brings together inquisitive thinkers and explores a plethora of interesting media over one eternal question: what is real?
“I prefer irreality, it’s more interesting,” said Rilliard.
CORE 121-02: What Do Numbers Sound Like? An Exploration of Digital Sound and Music
Any freshman eager to spice up their Numbers requirement should look into the interesting mix of senses presented in this course taught by Department Chair and Associate Professor of Physics Stephen Tufte. In this section, Tufte teaches the usual quantitative literacy and data interpretation, but his data comes in a more unique form: sound. Using a software called Audacity, students are able to make their own recordings of sounds around them and visualize them in the shape of waveforms and spectra. In this class, students learn to extract meaningful information from the data of sound.
The course builds up data interpretation skills and culminates in a project at the end of the semester where students conduct their own experiment using sound and its data. Project subjects vary greatly.
“Some students have studied things like the sounds that animals make, and how seal sounds differ from walrus sounds,” said Tufte.
Other topics students explored include sound insulation and how accurately humans can locate a sound source. Students have tested whether a listener can decipher the sound of an analog recording on something like a CD, which holds the entire data profile of a song, against a digital recording from Spotify, for example, which has been compressed.
“You can compress a sound file by a factor of 10, throw away 90% of the information, and it still sounds pretty damn good,” said Tufte. “It’s very difficult to tell.”
Tufte goes on to mention that sound is affected by “psycho-acoustics,” a branch of psychology that has to do with how humans hear and how our brains decide what sound information gets used and what does not. With a wide range of project options, the class encompasses the liberal arts method and combines a variety of topics, physics, music, psychology and computer science. Any student can find a way to incorporate their interests into this class. For any freshman with what Tufte describes as “math-phobia,” this music and sound angled class is a great way to delve into data without becoming too overwhelmed.
BIO-499-01: Spider Taxonomy
Independent study allows students to delve deeper into their unique interests while earning credits towards their degree and being supported by a faculty member. Madeline Jones ’25 is taking this self-designed class with Professor of Biology Greta Binford, serving as her advisor.
“Spider taxonomy is really just framed around exactly this question that Madeline and only Madeline is dealing with this semester,” said Binford.
For Jones, that question comes in the form of the trogloraptor spider. The trogloraptoridae is a family of spiders with only one described species found in Oregon and Northern California. Binford discovered a juvenile trogloraptor spider in the Columbia River Gorge in 2010, 350 miles north of the known locality of this family of spiders.
“So that kind of blew my mind, nobody dreamed that they would be this far north,” said Binford.
In April 2023, Binford and some other cavers went looking for a mature specimen, and found many hiding underground.
Two years ago, a student studied the DNA structure of the trogloraptor, one part of what is needed to describe and categorize a species. There, Jones picked up the project, specializing in describing the physical characteristics of the spider by using a visionary digital imaging system. So far she has discovered that the outward coloring of the spider is different from other described species.
“There is a different pattern on both the cephalothorax and the abdomen of the specimens that we have,” said Jones. “Another way that you can tell spiders apart if they look similar on the outside is by dissecting out their genitalia, because they are really specific to the species. We’ve dissected out genitalia and we think that also looks different between the two species.”
Jones continues to dissect as well as observe the raptorial claws, or “weird feet,” as Binford describes them, of the spiders.
Jones’ study is set to produce images of the trogloraptor’s physical characteristics, along with a written report documenting the unique features of this new species. Jones is working towards publication of her research in the future.
Independent studies like Jones’ are a great way for students to expand upon and get credit for their niche interests.
“This is just an opportunity for projects that don’t easily fit in those curated lab experiences within a class,” said Binford.
MUS-233: Intro to Electronic Music
The Dare may have destroyed disco, but the musician has started a resurgence of the late-night club genre. You could be the next LC alum to become an electronic hit maker by taking Intro to Electronic Music. This class is open to students of all skill levels, from GarageBand enthusiasts to self proclaimed Sound Cloud professionals.
“That’s one of the things I really like about these classes, and that I value, is that it’s very inclusive and it doesn’t really matter what you know when you come in or why you were there,” said Director of Electronic Music and Jazz Studies Jeffery Leonard.
In this class, students become accustomed to digital software, which functionally becomes their instrument, learning different techniques and styles available to them in the digital art of music making. Leonard’s class uses a program called Reason, which he describes as “GarageBand on steroids.”
In an effort to make the class equitable, Leonard negotiated a deal with the company to get every student 90-day free trials of the software he uses.
“Reason is a program I’ve taught for years, and I’m confident I can take a beginner and by the end of the semester they are making music they’re excited about,” said Leonard.
The class begins with a series of short assignments to build up the students’ skills and confidence. In the end, it culminates in an electronic music concert in which students provide an original work of electronic music and a visual accompaniment, whether that be a compiled video or simply juggling on stage. The music the students in the class create varies stylistically and even in genre. Leonard emphasizes that electronic music is not confined to dubstep, house or techno, but it can also be folk, grunge, glitch and so much more.
“Musically, hopefully, they’re learning all these tools that they need to operate the software, but ultimately I’m just empowering them,” said Leonard.
Collaboration takes a huge role in this small class as students learn from and build off of each other. One way the class improves their skills is by listening to other student work.
“These people that have such diverse interests end up learning as much from one another as they do from me,” said Leonard. “Over time each class takes on its own personality and its own culture.”
Leonard has taught many who have gone on to do well professionally in the music world, from recording engineers to public school teachers to songwriters. His former student Dan Caplen has appeared on the last two Macklemore albums, co-writing with the artist. A song he wrote for a British band called “Rudimental” hit number one on the European charts. And yes, The Dare, who Leonard knew as Harrison Smith ’18, was a student to this professor in his Jazz Appreciation class. Anyone interested in broadening their music knowledge, or anyone who just needs a Creative Arts credit, should check out this class, even if the only reason is because this class is the closest thing a student can get to attending a rave everyday.
With this taste of the niche classes offered here at L&C, every reader should be running to find their own odd class to add to their schedule. By supporting these unusual offerings, us students can do our part to keep the weird culture alive!
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