re: Hardest and most interesting class you took in college

Thermodynamics

What in the frick that was about

Hardest was probably Fluid Dynamics (Mechanical Engineering). Mixture of difficult subject matter and an awful professor so a lot of self teaching.

Most interesting was American History-American Revolution to Civil War. I believe the professor's name was Paskoff. Was prior to history podcasts, but he had that type of way with the subject matter. When he told the story, he made it super interesting. Never got bored in that class.

Hardest and most interesting was Forensic Anthropology taught by The Bone Lady at the LSU FACES Lab.

Abstract algebra. First and only C of my career and I was grateful.

Hardest was Linear Circuit Analysis with Dr. Aravena. There is no harder class unless it was his grad level class that continued the same curriculum. He had no intent of teaching anything. It was 50 minutes of him working advanced math on multiple chalkboards all around the classroom. We never used the textbook. Sometimes scores in the single digits were Cs on his tests. This was the cut class for an undergrad EE degree at LSU.

Most interesting to me was a grad level economics course.

I once took a Guyton Physiology course at Mississippi College. Class was made up of basically all pre-med students...probably 90 students in the class. Probably the highest concentration of intelligent people in the same room in the 9 years I was in college.


i studied my arse off for the first exam. VERY complicated movements of electrolytes in the body, mechanisms, very math heavy....anywho, first exam comes around and out of 90 pre med students, the average of the first exam was like a 52...it was brutal. I think I made a 46 or 48...something horrible. I think the highest grade was an 87. Of all those premed students, I think 15 or so had passing grades. No curve on the exam...I dropped that same week.

Most interesting: also a Mississippi College...Medical Ethics. Very interesting dilemmas regarding autonomy and general ethics.

difficult: Organic Chemistry

Interesting: Western Civ 1500-1939 & US History with Bob Outland

Outland looked exactly like Tom Hanks. He spoke in profanity and gave these incredible little nuggets about how famous decision came to be made.

P Chem for the hardest and one of the most interesting. I think the switch from traditional physics to the quantum level with particle in the box equations shell shocked a lot of students. I think the average grade in a class of engineers was around a 45.

Also what pushed me out of pursuing a worthless Math minor was Elementary Mathematics. Basically the entire class was about writing proofs for why math works. 1 is greater than 0 because 0+1=1 and 1+1=2.

Almost forgot about my most interesting environmental science class: Hurricanes. Taught by Dr. Lui who helped write the book on paleotempestology (the study of prehistoric tropical cyclone landfalls using geological proxies).

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Hardest and most interesting were the same. Heat and Mass Transfer with Louis J Thibodeaux. He was an amazing teacher.

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Worst teacher in the history of academia.

Most difficult as an Undergrad:Organic Chem or Celestial Navigation.
Most interesting as an Undergrad: There was a two part series that I took as a humanities elective: Patterns of Warfare to 1985 and Patterns of Warfare from 1865. The professor was a Marine Corps Lt Col (Gordon), who'd been a combat Lt in Vietnam. He was one of the best story tellers I've ever heard. His class was always full.

In Grad School,
Most Difficult: Community and Ecosystems Ecology. The Final exam took me from 8 Am in the morning until 7 PM that evening.
Most Interesting: Biogeography