Sign Me Up!
A few of the most popular elective courses requested by seniors
By Sarah Herrick
Summer 2025
HIS568: History Through Food
What started as an experimental Exeter Innovations course quickly became a permanent fixture in the course catalog. Taught by Troy Samuels, this class is scheduled into a double block to provide time for a weekly food lab. As it says in the Courses of Instruction, “Come hungry to learn and to eat!”
INT550: Sports Science
Seniors and PGs sign up in droves for Don Mills’ survey course on exercise science and athletic performance. Students spend time in discussion around the Harkness table and “in the field” at the Downer Family Fitness Center engaging in hands-on experiments and real-time biometrics.
BIO460: Ornithology
Often taught by beloved veteran science teacher Chris Matlack, students look forward to weekly off-campus birding adventures. At the end of the term, students vie for a spot in the “Hall of Fame,” awarded to the rare few who score 100% on the species identification final exam.
MAT690/790: Selected Topics in Math
Each term, in response to student interest, the Math Department offers a variety of advanced electives. Topics include Billiards and Surface Geometry, Financial Math and Number Theory.
ECO502/ECO510/ECO520: Economics
These are wildly popular electives, and we often staff upwards of five sections of economics each term! New this year is a place-based, three-week intensive summer section of ECO502 in Berlin with Instructor Aykut Kilinc.
What about English electives? Long waitlists are de rigueur for the following courses:
ENG573: Beats, Rhymes and Narrative
ENG578: Children’s Literature
ENG582: Science Fiction and Fantasy
ENG588: Crime Fiction
Illustration by Alanna Cavanagh
