Class 101
Class 101
Design a Course, Teach the World
Design a Course, Teach the World
If you could teach a class on anything—literally anything—what would it be? What strange skills, tragic expertise, personal chaos, or hidden knowledge do you have that no one else does?
In this assignment, you’ll propose your own class. It could be completely ridiculous, strangely personal, darkly honest, or surprisingly profound. You’ll present your course as if you’re pitching it to a school board (played by your classmates), and you’ll need to convince them that this class deserves to exist.
This is a chance to explore your own experiences, your absurdities, your pain, your humor—and reframe it as expertise.
Come up with a creative course title. Bonus points for including fake course numbers, prerequisites, or ridiculous honors tags.
Design your course description. What will students learn? Why does it matter? Is it satire, sincere, both?
Prepare a short pitch. You’ll present your course to the class (the “school board”), explaining why it should be approved.
Optional: Include a syllabus, fake assignments, or outrageous guest lecturers.
What strange or personal expertise do you actually have?
What real experiences—awkward, painful, joyful—could be transformed into “curriculum”?
Would someone take this class for fun, for survival, or out of desperation?
Is your course funny, tragic, petty, sincere, or all of the above?
Begging 101 – Techniques for manipulating facial expression, strategic groveling, and post-beg shame recovery.
Disappointing Your Parents 304 – Includes units on abandoning medical school, dating musicians, and ignoring texts.
Walking (Honors) 134 – Advanced hallway technique, corner-leaning philosophy, and exit strategies.
Crying in Public: A Seminar – Learn to cry in hallways, bathrooms, and buses with dignity and drama.
Doomscrolling 292 – Survey of techniques in self-sabotage via phone, including compulsive TikTok theory.
Existential Dread 102 - In introductory course designed to introduce you to the profound emptiness that is existence.
(Use or remix as needed—this is your class, after all.)
Think bold, weird, academic, or hilarious.
Examples: “Lying with Confidence 202,” “Avoiding Eye Contact 110,” “Overthinking (Lab)”
Include an absurd course number or honors tag if you’d like.
What is this class really about?
Is it practical? Satirical? Personal? All of the above?
Describe the tone and the type of students it’s for.
(“This course is for anyone who has ever cried in a Target parking lot and needed to make it poetic.”)
What will students be able to do by the end of this course?
Get specific—even (especially) if it's weird.
Examples: “Master the passive-aggressive sigh.” “Leave a party without saying goodbye.”
Include real or imaginary books, emotional baggage, niche YouTube videos, or tools.
Examples: “One spiral notebook, one spiral of existential dread.” “Headphones for dramatic storm walks.”
Are there any emotional, academic, or spiritual requirements?
Should students be prepared for heartbreak, self-reflection, or embarrassment?
What kinds of projects or tests will students complete?
Examples: “Write a 5-paragraph excuse for ghosting someone.” “Final project: dramatic hallway exit with live grading.”
Who might visit your class?
These can be celebrities, fictional characters, exes, or “that one friend who knows too much.”
Example: “Week 6 Guest Speaker: The person I became during 2020.”
Get persuasive. Why should the board approve your class?
What personal truth or collective experience are you putting into the world?
What’s funny, sad, beautiful, or meaningful about it?