The title of a class on Course Offerings can sometimes be the difference between a full roster and an empty one. The art of naming a course requires the skill of alliterative allusions, pop culture wordplay, a bit of sensationalism, and of course: a carefully placed academic colon.

While this past spring offered some stiff competition with its Beyoncé class (“Run the World: Black Women and Popular Music Culture from Modernity to the Millennium”), this Fall’s academic options offer a banquet of classes, ranging from the boldly worded to the plain and simple. Some sexy course names next semester include:

Race and the City (AAS/AMS 386): Sarah Jessica Parker’s Weave

“The course cover a diverse array of topics including: ghettoization, urban renewal, the creation of public housing, popular music (Jazz, Motown, Hip Hop), public art and graffiti, literature of urbanity, the fair housing movement, deindustrialization and gentrification.”

The Ordinary (ARC 425): Hey, Look At That Bench

“This course examines the notion of the “ordinary,” and the ways in which it has been exploited as a site of inquiry in the architectural debate, particularly from the mid-1950s to the present.”

Topics in Contemporary Architectural Theory – Kissing Architecture (ARC/MOD 577): Yes, We Used The Word “Friction”, Get Your Head Out Of The Gutter

“The seminar will argue that architecture has consistently propelled itself through its embrace of other cultural forms and that most key moments in the advancement of 20th century architecture are related to the conceptual and material friction generated by contact between architecture and other mediums.”

Anxious Megalopolis: Shanghai’s Urban Cultures (1842-2012) (ART/ARC 459): We Build Shit Fast, And Then It Falls Over

“This seminar will cover the emergence of Shanghai’s vibrant urban culture as it evolved into the complex megalopolis of today.”