Majoring in "Evil"

by Brittany Geragotelis

photo credit: New Line/Austin Powers

I was talking to a friend of mine who recently headed to NYU for her freshman year and she was telling me how there's a school offered there that allows you to create your own major. The Gallatin School of Individualized Studies lets students really zero in on a specialty. And apparently, according to NYU admissions, one guy decided to major in EVIL. Yep, that's right. His degree was actually in EVIL and now he's become a pretty successful lawyer, who's considered an expert on the subject.

How cool is that?

I wish I'd gone to a school that had allowed me to really tailor my education to what I was actually interested in learning. I can honestly say all the math and science I use today, I learned in grade school. Imagine all the stuff I could've learned in school had I been given a little more freedom to choose. I mean, wouldn't students be more excited about learning if they were taking classes they were actually interested in? In fact, it would seem like it would take some major creativity to come up with an original major and then have to plan out all the courses you'd need to achieve it.

photo credit: Universal Studios/Heroes

But the idea of majoring in EVIL brings up a great question. What sort of major would you want if the sky was the limit? Me, I think I might have majored in something like "HEROES" and I'd take a look at the history of heroes in fiction, film, music and real life; the psychology behind what drives a person to want to do heroic things; the definition of a hero and what constitutes one. And that would just be to start.

Or maybe I'd major in "FEAR" and study the history of the horror film; the psychology behind people's attraction to fear; a deep look into the physical ramifications that fear can have on a person; delve into the most common fears and ways to overcome them.

Or maybe "SUPERNATURAL STUDIES" and then I could look into ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves and other supernatural topics, discovering their origins and their impact on society.

Man....the prospect of coming up with my own degree is actually kind of making me want to go back to school (and I hated school). Maybe I could just start by taking one class: The History of Zombies, perhaps?

If you could create your own major, what would it be? Leave your comments above!

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