One of the most exciting parts of Amherst’s open curriculum is that you can look beyond your major at any time. With over 800 courses on campus, and even more through the Five College Consortium, there’s always something new to discover. Most days, this feels like a blessing. Other days, usually during course preregistration, it feels like an extreme sport.
And it just so happens that this week is preregistration for the Spring 2026 semester. As a Math and Statistics major, most of my time is spent in upper-level courses filled with proofreading and RStudio. So, when course registration rolls around, I let myself wander a little. With the freedom of the liberal arts behind me, I’ve built a saved list of more than ten 100- and 200-level non-major classes–the deep, generous introductions that give you real footing before you move on to something more advanced. They’re the kinds of courses that remind me why I came to Amherst in the first place!
That being said, here’s a small (emphasis on small) slice of the ever-growing list of classes I’ve been considering for next semester. Who knows — one of these might end up on your wishlist too once you’re an Amherst student!
Education, Policy, and Law – EDST 213 / AMST 213
This course explores how American law shapes public education from free speech and parental rights to surveillance and religious expression. With recent Supreme Court decisions reshaping everything from affirmative action to prayer in schools, the timing could not be more relevant. Being an international student who has watched laws in my own country reshape everything from access to education to the daily rhythm of school life, I thought it would be fascinating to see how policy and legal decisions unfold here.
Intersectional Feminist Science Studies – ANTH 209 / SOCI 207 / SWAG 209
A seminar that asks how medicine and science reflect social hierarchies and cultural assumptions. It examines how ideas about sex, gender, and race shape what we consider “truth” and “objectivity.” As someone who works with data, I’m used to thinking in terms of models and measurements, but the class description made me think about who gets to decide what counts as knowledge in the first place. Coming from the global south, where medical systems and scientific authority often operate differently depending on who you are, the questions this course raises feel close to home!
Asian Pacific American Sports: Clever Headers and Warriors – AMST 208 / AAPI 208
A transnational history of sport across the Pacific, from Hawaiian surfing traditions to Ivy League soccer stars and modern athletes like Shohei Ohtani. It uses sports to trace empire, migration, culture, and globalization. I’m not a huge sports fan; in fact, I mostly follow volleyball and only recently started getting into soccer, but I’m fascinated by how ideas and practices travel across borders! This class feels like a creative way to see how that shapes culture in motion.
Asian Americans in Media and Popular Culture – AAPI 269 / AMST 271 / SOCI 271
This course looks at how Asian Americans have been represented in U.S. media and pop culture, whether in film, TV, music, animation, fashion, all of it. And as an international student from Asia, I can’t help but feel pulled toward it. Living in the U.S. has made me notice every little moment when something “Asian” shows up in mainstream culture whether it’s ramen, boba, anime, or K-pop. Sometimes it feels accurate, sometimes it feels off, sometimes it’s just funny. I’m also a huge fan of Everything Everywhere All at Once, and seeing Asian American stories finally being written and performed by Asian American creators has meant a lot to me. This class feels like a chance to think through all of that, and to understand how those representations shape the world I’m learning to navigate!
Of course, this is only a small glimpse of what I’m considering! The full list is much longer. And that’s what I love about Amherst. There’s always more to discover than I could ever fit into one semester. For now, though, I’m hoping I can carve out space for at least a few of these classes, and maybe someday I’ll work my way through the rest. I hope you also have fun browsing Amherst’s course catalog and start imagining the worlds you might want to wander into!