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College students beware: Classes other than history, English, math and science might be of mild import in opening your eyes.

But of course, novelty is dangerous in education, and anyone who goes above and beyond the well-worn “do re mi” scale of life is bound to be driving that bus to hell.

Tell me you want to take one of the “America’s Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses” and restore my faith in college students. Please.

A few weeks ago, a hyper-conservative Virginia-based organization stuck UCLA professor Mitchell Morris with the same charge as the ancient Athenians placed on Socrates: corrupting the youth.

Professor Morris wasn’t the only one to receive this high honor. The Young America’s Foundation saw it fit to condemn 11 other professors in “Dirty Dozen” classes, which it claims are so bizarre and inappropriate that they are not only a waste of taxpayers’ money, but also destroy college students.

I could maybe understand the accusations if the classes had titles like “How to Bomb Popular American Landmarks” or “Creating and Spreading the Ebola Virus” but not “Native American Feminism” or “Whiteness: The Other Side Of Racism,” which can be found at certain institutions.

After all, what is a “bizarre” class and what is a “normal” class?

I suppose there are several classes here at UCLA that would be frowned upon by the angelic spokesman of the association, Jason Mattera, who declared the only reason to take Professor Morris’ class, “Queer Musicology,” would be if you “wanted to become a singing pimp or prostitute.”

But honestly, I don’t think his organization’s opinion counts for very much here in Bruin territory.

“I know nothing about ‘Queer Musicology’ and nothing about the Young America’s Foundation’s list of “Dirty Dozen” courses, nor do I care,” said Professor Michael Owen Jones, who teaches “Food Customs and Symbolism,” another class that those in the foundation might dub frivolous.

“A course on food customs and symbolism might be considered ‘strange’ if people have no interest in why they eat what they do,” Jones said in defense of his class. “The subject of (food customs) and the serving, as well as consuming of food has been a topic of research in anthropology and folklore studies for decades.”

Last year Amanjot Mangat, a fourth-year linguistics and psychology student, took a class on video games.

“We explored the theories of video game design,” he said, speaking of the class. “We covered everything from social aspects to marketing strategies to the economic impact of video games. I have never seen anything like that at UCLA.”

Food culture, video games – holy red state, what’s next, gay and lesbian literature? Oh wait, that’s already a class at UCLA.

“Some (of these classes) I would be interested in taking, but the others sound bogus,” said Jessica Rojas, a first-year Design | Media Arts student.

Disagreeing with her, Sera Lee, another first-year Design | Media Arts student said, “I think that (the foundation) is judging the classes based on the title. We need classes like (these) because we can’t just ignore certain issues.”

“A university is an open marketplace for ideas,” Mangat said. “To label any class as taboo is counter to that philosophy.”

Even now, we look back to recent history and the fits thrown by generations past in response to new ideas that we now consider the norm: The universe is heliocentric; leeches don’t cure anything; cameras don’t steal your soul.

Actually, one of the classes that the illustrious Mr. Mattera is griping about is called “Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism.” I know the concept of nonviolence may be unheard of by some, but if anything, its place is on a college campus.

Also, isn’t it our responsibility as youth dabbling in academia to actually learn new things and challenge our existing states of mind?

UCLA received the most applications in the nation last year, and it is neither because we have a shining reputation of conformity, nor because we have taught classes in the same way for decades straight.

No. We have evolved to include subjects such as “foodways,” gay and lesbian literature and genocide.

That makes me want to go with the flow, take a class against the current – maybe I’ll sprout gills.

Write to rjoshi@media.ucla.edu to get on the waitlist for “20 Ways to Harass Young America’s Foundation.” Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.