Out of the Ordinary

Unique classes on campus

Sometimes, core classes can begin to get boring after doing the same thing each semester. However, many are unaware of some of the more unique and personalized classes offered at Hutchinson Community College, such as the Psychology of Happiness, the Introduction to Cultural Studies course, also known as the Fairy Tales class, and Death and Dying.

These classes crush the normalities of college, as they introduce students to topics suited to their interests and complete electoral credits.

If a student wanted a course to help relieve some of the stress from that dreaded algebra exam, talking to an advisor about enrolling in Psychology of Happiness could be beneficial.

“Some students don’t take it seriously, but I took it to increase my mindfulness and my control over my emotions and thoughts. It’s your experience and how you choose to use it,” said Payton Fiene, Lake of Ozarks, Mo.

In this course, Christopher Lau, Coordinator of Advising, Career Development and Counseling, encourages students to curb destructive behavior through daily meditation. This helps integrate happiness into their daily lives and relieve stress.

“Mindfulness, gratitude, compassion, kindness and social connections are the five keys to increasing one’s happiness,” said Lau.

This course was actually designed by an honors mentee. For her project, she designed a class that would help students be happier. She composed the curriculum for the course and she and Lau discussed the idea with Ryan Diehl, Curriculum Program Improvement Coordinator to make it an official course on campus.Once it was made appropriate for college level students, the class took off and now has many enrolled students benefiting from its calming environment.

In the Fairy Tales course, English Professor Kelly Clasen opens students’ minds to critiquing stories and films about traditional fairy tales.

“They are magical.”

-Kelly Clasen, English Professor

“This class is unique not only to critique but to experience,” Clasen said. “I love enlarging students’ perspectives.”

The class involves watching movies related to the tales, reading folklore literature and analyzing the origin of the stories themselves.

Students who take this class get to see deeper into the tales behind many childhood favorites, such as Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, or Sleeping Beauty. Along with some Bluebeard folklore, which are stories of cinematic horror that greatly revolve around the serial killings of beautiful women.

“I enjoy taking the fairy tales class because I am learning so much. Before taking this class, I never really thought about the history and the cultural values in fairy tales. We dive deep into the cultural backgrounds and its very eye-opening,” said Marcail Deters, Wichita. “I love this class, it is teaching me so much, it’s a lot of fun, we talk about the fairy tales, and then we watch the Disney version and discuss the differences. I would highly recommend this class to anyone who is remotely interested in taking it,” said Deters.

On a more serious note, the Death and Dying course is designed to teach students about what happens after ourselves, or a loved one, dies.

“This class helps students learn how to deal with death. We write obituaries and eulogies and practice funeral planning,” said Charles Kerschen, Religion and Philosophy Professor.

“One of the assignments I give to my students is to draw a picture of a dead friend or loved one and explain the death to the class,”

While the course may not be the best fit for every student, it can show students more about an inevitable part of life and how to cope after a loss has occurred.

“It may have been a touchy subject to go over, but I do believe that most students who come out of that class are somewhat more prepared for when a situation arises where they have to use the skills that they learned in that class,” said Laynee Barlow, Plevna.

Death and dying gives students a better understanding of how to take grief by the reins and work through a challenging time. It also prepares them to be able to lend a courteous hand to those who need it when going through the process of losing someone close to them.

“The class also talked about different cultures and how they tend to the deceased and the traditional methods of how they ‘send off’ their dead,” said Barlow.

Some other unique courses on campus include Stress Management, World Mythology and Vampires in Literature and Film. They are all options for students with a break between core classes that needs filled.

The possibilities are endless and most of these electives will transfer to other colleges. Whether a student wishes to take a unique elective as a way to relieve stress or advance their knowledge of Disney’s fairy tales, each one of these professors has a class waiting for interested students next semester.

Kelly Clasen- Introduction to Culture:

Clasen started working at HutchCC in 2014. She started teaching the Fairy Tales class to experience something new. As an avid reader Disney critic and fanatic , she loves analyzing the historical side of Disney’s fairy tale stories. She is from Nickerson, but has bounced around as she lived in Texas and worked for the Dallas Morning News. When she studied at HutchCC, she was the Collegian’s editor. Later on she studied journalism at The University of Kansas and literature at the University of North Texas. She is married and has a beautiful three year-old daughter.

Christopher Lau- Psychology of Happiness:

Lau started working at HutchCC in 2008. He studied at HutchCC to obtain his associate degree, Northwest Missouri State University to get his Bachelors degree in Psychology/Sociology, and his Masters through Friends University. He is a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist and he and his family enjoys participating in Catholic activities in the community. He is married and has two children which keep him very busy with their activities. He and his family love to travel, they have taken family vacations to England and Canada with plans to visit Disney World this year. He incorporates meditation into his Psychology of Happiness course.

Charles Kerschen- Death and Dying:

Charles Kerschen, an Instructor of Death & Dying, started working at HutchCC in 2005 and is retiring this year. He studied at the Graduate Theological Union, an affiliate of UC Berkeley at Berkeley, where he studied to be a Roman Catholic Priest. However, at this time he has been an Episcopal Priest since 2008. He enjoys reading, ministering and helping others. He likes to stay busy and is habitually multitasking. He conducts funerals and the myriad of other liturgical rituals in a parish setting. He enjoys participating in all facets of people’s lives. There have been times during the teaching of Death & Dying that Charles’ outside profession has made it more difficult to deal with the material. But that intimacy in dealing with life and death has made him a better instructor. He has felt blessed in being with someone as they cross that threshold and it is an honor he doesn’t take lightly.

While sitting in on a 13-minute meditation in this course over love and kindness, I was able to observe the weight being lifted off some of the student’s shoulders as they focused deeply on their breathing and thoughts. The narrator of the meditation had a calming voice that easily guided the students into the practice at hand. It was a relaxing experience for me and encouraged my own thoughts to branch off into wishing myself and others well, as that is what the meditation was going over. This class really seems to open up student’s minds and think more purposefully about their happiness and well-being. -Brooke Greene My Experience: