Unusual courses offered at universities

Students today can enjoy a wide range of subjects that would have been the envy of earlier generations. Early universities taught natural philosophy, logic, theology, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, law, grammar and rhetoric, but modern students have a far extensive selection of subject to choose from. Amongst the thousands of different courses on offer, the subjects below are just a few of the more esoteric ones students can study at university.

1. Ethical Hacking

The name itself seems to be an oxymoron - how can one be both a hacker, and be ethical? Doesn`t hacking imply abusing your IT skills in order to break into the mainframes and databases of companies and social institutions, with the purpose of malicious abusing the information? The degree offered at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, actually promises to teach students the skills to help prevent and mitigate such cyber attacks. The course will teach students to `understand the processes behind hacking and cyber attacks,` and to `Work out how illegal hacks can be stopped.` With the growing importance of cyber security, and with even the biggest companies being routinely hacked by malevolent individuals, a degree in ethical hacking may well prove extremely desirable to employers.

2. Cannabis cultivation.

For the moment this course is only available in the USA, but if the drug is ever legalised in the UK, we can probably expect similar studies to be taught here. Given the growing acceptance of the plant`s medicinal uses, many countries have relaxed their legislation over its use; and like any new `cash crop` there will be a demand to become acquainted with its intrinsic agricultural properties. Being a relatively new large scale crop (at least legally) for most western countries, even experience farmers and horticulturists may wish to learn about the particular cultivation needs of this plant.

3. Adventure Education

This may sound like a course that should be taught by Peter Pan, but it has been on offer at Plymouth state university for many years now, and is hugely popular. The degree promises to equip graduates with the knowledge of `how to use the Great Outdoors to expose children, adults and at-risk populations to challenging adventures, personal growth and self-discovery.` After looking through dozens of CV`s, each listing such prosaic qualifications as advertising or marketing, I imagine an employer might be pleasantly surprised to see Adventure Education listed, and would surely offer an interview to the candidate, if only to see who would be in possession of such an interesting sounding degree!

4. David Beckham Studies

Alas it seems Staffordshire University has dropped, or at least modified, a course that included a module focusing on the great British footballer. The university had been publicly derided for teaching such a `micky mouse` subject, but Professor Cashmore, who taught the module, defended its inclusion on the curriculum, going on to say that `Beckham embodies the spirit of the times,` but that the majority of the degree would be spent `examining the rise of football from its folk origins in the 17th century, to the power it`s become and the central place it occupies in British culture, and indeed world culture, today.`

5. Feel the Force: How to Train in the Jedi Way

This degree may also have been dropped, but with sufficient application of the force, it may be possible to resurrect it. Queen`s University in Belfast previously offered the degree, first offering it to the public back in 2008. The course was taught by Dr Allen Baird, who has claimed the subject has a strong scientific and sociological content, and that `I will be going as far as scientific psychology will allow, so while there will be no Jedi mind tricks or telepathy being taught, I can show them empathy and non-verbal communication, influencing and persuasion skills.` Dr Baird is a communications guru, and one can only surmise that he put these skills to good use when convincing the deans at Queen`s University to offer the course.

6. Parapsychology

This intriguing term is defined as `the study of mental phenomena which are excluded from or inexplicable by orthodox scientific psychology.` The university of Edinburgh currently offers nothing less than a full degree in this subject, which will teach students about the historical accounts of paranormal activity. I have to say, of all the bizarre subjects listed, this is the one I would be most interested in taking. It would be wonderful to be able to expound with learned confidence the sociological and hermeneutical provenance of goblins, gremlins and ghouls! If I ever decide to return to university, this is the course I will be sure to take!