College is difficult. That can go without being said. Your whole world changes physically, socially, and especially academically. All of a sudden you are faced with taking multiple sciences, high level math classes, and excessively challenging literature courses. That said, all college classes are hard, but there are a few that are less difficult than others. Read ahead to learn about 18 easy courses at the University of Pittsburgh!
This intro level theater class is for the theater newbie and the seasoned pro. It is active and engaging with students learning different acting techniques and methods, while building a basis for their skills. Have no fear, it deals mostly with contemporary theater, so there won’t be any stressing over Shakespeare. It doesn’t have any tests (no midterm or final exam), just a few short papers based on the university’s plays and musicals, and a few scenes performed in front of the class for grades. Maybe not the best course for the most introverted, but the only way to break stage fright is to work through it!
While no math class is easy or fun, this course is perhaps the best option to fill that Quantitative and Formal Reasoning gen ed. It is the first class to take in Pitt’s Stats department and aside from being necessary for many students, a lot of the stats professors are known for being quite reasonable. Stats does have a required midterm and final, but those grades are balanced out by either homework or quizzes, depending on the professor. If any reason, take this course because the content is not too challenging, especially if you’ve had any stats related class before.
Here at Pitt, the little-known department of History and Philosophy of Science offers a course with the intriguing title of Einstein: Modern Science and Surprises. And yes, having Einstein in the name is indicative of complex theories and the math behind them, the entire course is geared toward students who have little to no science background, but a lot of curiosity. If you want to add a course that won’t add too much stress, but where you might learn something unusual, Modern Science and Surprises might be a surprising fit.
Mandatory for most majors and beneficial in all careers, Public Speaking is a commonly taken by many Pitt students and is one of the most frequently offered classes. If you are looking for a class to push you over the 12 credits requirement, this is always an option. The max enrollment is 19 students, making it a smaller course since every student is required to give speeches. That said, even with the lower workload, there are a lot of skills to gain from taking Public Speaking.
What’s better than a college class devoted to listening to and learning about one of the most influential periods and genres in American music history? Almost nothing, when you consider that it is one of the easier courses offered at Pitt. The lectures for History of Jazz consist of listening to various songs and artists from the jazz era and occasionally include live performances. Not only is this class easy on the ears, but it’s easy on the GPA.
If Halloween is your favorite holiday and spooky legends are your go-to stories, Vampire: Blood and Empire is a class you must take. It details the history and origins of the (sometimes) blood-sucking creatures throughout popular culture and literature. With that said, it can occasionally be a bit reading heavy, but if it’s a subject that intrigues you, it won’t even feel like course work.
A more reading heavy alternative are the Russian and German Fairytale classes. These are two different courses that follow a similar structure, but have different cultural content, while both focusing on the stories and their composition along with the psychological way they connect to their cultures. Since they satisfy the International/Foreign Culture gen ed the classes are very popular. Though it’s difficult to get through if you cannot stand reading, it provides material that very few students have previously been exposed to.
Another course into which entertaining material plays a very big rule is Introduction to Film. It exposes students to viewing films in an academic manner by understanding the production process and their societal impact. That said, it is often a three to four hour class during which students watch a movie and discuss it, so it’s not the best class for students with short attention spans.
By far the easiest course on here, the Freshman Programs class is a one credit class that meets once a week and is designed to introduce freshman to the wonder that is the University of Pittsburgh and its surrounding area. The most difficult part of this course is the group project in which students visit a neighborhood in Pittsburgh and present on their trip and how they got there. The group project consists of the majority of the out of class work.
Considered to be the two of the least difficult natural sciences courses, Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmos and Observational Astronomy both act as introductory classes for astronomy. Not only do they cover fascinating topics such as the objects within our solar system, how they function, and how we observe them through lectures, but there are evening sessions that occur at the Allegheny Observatory. During these sessions, students learn about telescopes and use them to view the night sky that they study in class. These two courses offer not too challenging options to fill the Natural Science gen ed requirement.
Although this class has 3 tests, homework, and quizzes it’s included on this list because of the ample amounts of extra credit and the optional final. If you don’t do well on one of the exams you can take the final and still get an A or if you do really well on all the tests you don’t have to take the final at all! Also, the subject matter is very interesting and applicable to real life.
This class focuses on madness in Russia from medieval to modern times. Instead of focusing just on literature, it focuses on movies, paintings, and other forms of art. With easy in class quizzes, and light movie watching or reading this class requires minimal effort for an A and fulfills the Gen ed requirement for Literature.
This class is very interesting for trained musicians to beginners as it explores music from a variety of different countries and cultures. There isn’t much focus on the technical musical aspect but there’s more of a focus on listening and understanding the music. Every exam has a listening component, but the exams are an easy A if you simply listen in class. This class fulfills the Gen ed requirement for the Arts.
Similar to Introduction to World Music, this class focuses on studying world Art. To do well this class simply requires memorizing a couple pieces of art and vocab words given by the professor. It is also very interesting as it examines art pieces from medieval to modern times.
This course studies athletic games played in the ancient Greece and Rome. It studies some of the first Olympic games and the class itself is very interactive with frequent class discussion. The exams are very easy and based on class discussion and notes, not much book reading is required.
One of the easier literature courses at the University of Pittsburgh, this class focuses on studying detective fiction and the impact it has on society. With frequent class discussion and group work, there is not much work needed outside of class. Exams and quizzes are very manageable and this class will give you an easy A and will fulfill the Gen ed Literature requirement.
This class is selective in that you must be able to play a musical instrument. This class is only one credit and only meets once a week so it’s easy to fit into your schedule. With no exams or quizzes, your grade is based on attendance so you get that easy A for just showing up.
Pitt offers multiple phys-ed courses, but don’t worry they’re not like your high school gym class! These courses are only one credit and usually meet once or twice a week. The code for these classes is PEDC and options include physical fitness, swimming, ballroom dancing, party dancing, and many more. With a grade based purely on attendance, this class is guaranteed to give you an A and easy GPA boost.
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