Students looking through college class offerings are finding some strange but fascinating classes offered at American colleges and universities. There's probably some real education going on underneath the titles of these courses, but you've have to take them to know for sure. Political Ceramics? Tattoos in American Popular Culture? How to Win a Beauty Pageant?
Nope, it’s not about putting Vaseline on your teeth and how to choose a good waterproof mascara. The course’s full title is “How to Win a Beauty Pageant: Race, Gender, Culture, and U.S. National Identity,” and it looks at the history of pageants from the 1920s through now to analyze them as “unique site[s] for the interplay of race, gender, class, sexuality, and nation.” And hey, field trip opportunity: the class actually gets to view a pageant in the flesh.
Find out where these twelve classes will be taught, and read their descriptions at mental_floss. Link
(Image source: Shorpy)