If you were a college professor, what class would you teach and why? by Sofia

If you were a college professor, what class would you teach and why? by Sofia - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

Being a college professor has always been an interest of mine. But I also believe that in order to fully teach students, they must learn certain life skills while being engaged in something that intrigues them. Students should find classes in college that they can fully enjoy all while learning how to research and use source citation. Which is why if I were a professor the class I would teach would be: The History of Mythical Creatures and Where They Originated From.

Nowadays when people think of mythical creatures they picture a hippogriff or a phoenix from Harry Potter. But what no one explores is where mythical creatures originated from. How did legends like the unicorn come to be? Where did dragons come from if not the sky? The course will investigate the different kinds of mythical creatures and how they interacted between cultures. Haven't you ever wondered why dragons were both in European and Asian culture? Isn't it odd that two different sides of a continent would believe in the same mythical beings? Not only will students embark on a journey of discovering their favorite creatures, but learn the names of some that have been forgotten in history. For example, the Wolpertinger is one myth that was never analyzed in the Wizarding World.

Not only will the course be interesting for students, but research will be conducted to discover where the creatures originated from and how they became legends and myths. Students will learn how to research into the past and analyze ancient writings as well as paintings or portraits for evidence. They will compare stories and look at the demography of how those stories originated. Some of them were orally exchanged and others were passed as bedtime stories to frighten children.

The purpose behind this class is to show students that beliefs are constantly changing. In the future, cultures will look at the 21st Century and analyze our own beliefs and culture.