UCL’s Craziest Courses

There’s a course for everyone at UCL, but while some people get stuck into studying sensible things like ‘Physics of the Human Body’ and ‘Tectonic Geomorphology’, others are spending their academic lives poring over comic books and debating the grisly details of medieval sex:

1. Reading Tintin

You remember Tintin, right? Little blond Belgian with a cartoon dog called Snowy? Well if your Tintin knowledge isn’t up to scratch, don’t panic. UCL’s French department offers a whole ten-week course on it!

2. Glorious and Infamous Dead: The Political Lives of Dead Bodies

Assassinations, war, terrorism and massacre are all in a day’s work for students of this module. The course, from the School of European Language, Culture and Society, aims to analyse national identities and cultural memory through – what else? – dead bodies.

3. Men on the Moon: Cosmic Voyages in the Early Modern Period

Looking for something a little lighter? This course looks at space travel in a time when space travel wasn’t even possible. To be fair, it sounds great:

4. Distractions of Manhood in the 21st Century

Distracting your manhood? IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK.

5. Cannibalism and the Early Modern Image

Back to the grisly stuff. This MA History of Art course lets students get into the nitty gritty details of “eating one’s own kind”.

An experimental approach to cannibalism? Is someone keeping an eye on this?

6. How to Make an Eight-Minute Documentary 

If factual films of very specific length are your thing, then we’ve got good news for you. This postgraduate course from the Spanish department tells you everything you need to know about making your own documentary.

You’ll have to fork out for your own equipment and software, though.

7. Sex and the Body in Early Modern Europe

You can’t go wrong with a bit of sex. But this course sounds a bit intense, even for students:

So that’s all you need to know – no prospectus necessary. But if you’re thinking of studying further afield, here’s a round-up of some of the most bizarre university courses around the world.

1. Harry Potter and the Age of Illusion – Durham University
2. Contemporary Circus and Physical Performance – Bath Spa University
3. ‘David Beckham studies’ – Staffordshire University
4. Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame – University of South Carolina
5. Feel the Force: How to Train the Jedi Way – Queen’s University Belfast