Some of Our Favorite Courses at Whittier College

From political history to digital photography, students share some of the favorite courses they've taken at Whittier College.

From Russia with Feelings

Destiny Randle ’23: My favorite course from Whittier College would have to be “From Russia with Feelings” taught by Professor Mike McBride. Because of this class, I was able to gain a deeper appreciation for Russia and Russian culture, as well as gaining a better understanding of Russia’s history and politics

In this class, we watched movies, participated in mock trials, and gave presentations on a variety of topics over JanTerm, a short term between fall and spring semester. Through those activities, my classmates and I not only understood Russia from a textbook standpoint, but also how Russian citizens must have felt during hard times in their history.

As silly as it may be, my appreciation and interest for Russia came because I became a fan of a YouTuber who is Russian. Ever since then, in terms of Russia, my goal is to have functional Russian conversational skills and visit Russia one day.

I really enjoyed the course. It kept me engaged and motivated to pursue my goal of traveling to Russia and learning the language.

Media Theory, Culture, and Technology

Nicole Collins ’23: In my first year at Whittier College, there was one class that stood out to me and it turned out to be my favorite class I have taken so far.

In high school, I took multiple philosophy courses as it really struck my interest. I decided to take one at Whittier, called “Media Theory, Culture, and Technology” during JanTerm—the short term between fall and spring. As I am interested in media, I thought to myself: what a perfect way to become interested in media by learning about the subject through a philosophical point of view.

I would say I really enjoyed this course because it taught me to not be so caught up in technology and instead immerse myself in nature. There were some days throughout the course where we would go outside, somewhere on campus, not talk to anyone, not be on our phones. We would just sit in silence in nature and think about things—and it was so relaxing.

After the course finished and we concluded with our midterm, our professor took most of the class to eat at a local cafe called Auntie’s. Our class was very close and we all became friends. This course taught me so much, and if anyone is interested in taking the course, I would 100% recommend it.

Epidemiology

Alondra Martinez ’21: My favorite course at Whittier College has been epidemiology, which has allowed me to get a deeper understanding of how viruses and other diseases are transmitted.

Epidemiology—which is the incidence, distribution and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health—has also taught me how the sources of outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics are localized to a specific person, species or object. With Covid-19 going on during spring semester, the class allowed me to gain a wider understanding of what the virus is, how it transmits and what the numbers presented on the graphs and statistics actually mean. This class has made Covid-19 less scary than it seems, but it has also made me aware of my surroundings and how well we take care of ourselves and others.

Beyond that, epidemiology has inspired me to possibly look into getting a masters in public health.

Screenwriting

Riley Ramirez ’21: Over my years at Whittier, I found my favorite classes to be on the creative side of learning, like creative writing and video production. The one class that comes to mind is screenwriting—in particular, Professor Michelle Chihara’s “Screenwriting: The T.V. Pilot.”

The class focused on the formulas that define functional pilots for prospective shows. The class delved into the theory of narrative structure that I had previously learned about in Professor Patti McCarthy’s “Introduction to Screenwriting,” but redirected the practice to apply to a much different format than writing for feature films or short films. “The T.V. Pilot” also helped introduce me to my favorite tactic for coming up with ideas when you’re deep into a brainstorming session: write individual pages and physically move them out of sequence to spice or mix up my structure. This class helped me understand the speed at which scripts for T.V. shows can become outdated, or how often screenwriting can be innovative.

In my creative career, this class definitely helped challenge me to plan, asses, and write the stories that I hope to write and direct in the future.

Intermediate Photography

Emerson Little ’21: "Digital Photography II: Intermediate Photography" has been one of the best classes I’ve taken during my time at Whittier College.

Building on the technical skills that we already learned in the first photography course, we learned about photography as a fine art form. We learned to create meaning in our own photographs and fine tune our techniques, while exploring new photo retouching tools in programs such as Lightroom Classic.