How to rule the world, train animals or envision the future of humanity
Here are some of the more unusual courses offered at Salve.
It seems almost cruel that “spring” semester starts while we’re in the deepest pocket of winter. At Salve Regina University, one way students ward off the doldrums is by mixing in one of these courses that sound exciting right off the catalog page. They’re guaranteed to wake up your mind and put a spring in your step long before the ice melts.
As the 2026 Winter Olympics play out in Italy, students in HIS299: Politics and the Olympics will look at the ways political impulses have affected the Olympic Games across the decades, with a focus on the 1936 Games and Cold War-era contests, as well as the Milan Cortina Games.
In PSY328: Animal Training, students develop practical knowledge of behavior principles from shaping behavior to stimulus control, prompt hierarchies, extinction and differential reinforcement as they pertain to animals. Students then apply what they learn to a local animal shelter, providing dogs with essential training that may make them more desirable to adopters.
PHL105: Finding Your Moral Compass is a one-credit, first-year foundational course in which students explore the question of what constitutes "goodness" and how to make just decisions that help in developing their own virtuous character while fostering harmonious communities grounded in mercy.
It’s probably best to set your moral compass before signing up for POL120: How to Rule the World. Here students explore the long history of war and conquest, the achievements of diplomacy and cooperation, and the search for peace and justice among nations; confronting the tensions between morality and national security and learning from the examples of great political leadership.
Tapping into the cultural zeitgeist might lead students to MGT399: Taylor Swift: Marketing Mastermind. There, they will dive into marketing strategies the singer-songwriter leveraged to create her billion-dollar brand; PR, analyzing digital engagement, product launches, branding, fan loyalty development, ethical considerations and event marketing tactics.
Or ART338: Art and the Gilded Age at Salve Regina University, in which students are transported back in time as a way to study the Gilded Age and its importance in Newport. Touring campus buildings like Ochre Court and Gerety Hall introduces students to the collection of fine and decorative arts here at Salve.
For those looking to create art as well as study it, ART344: Illustrating Worlds: Cyborgs, Aliens and Elves provides an opportunity. Students research and design their own, inhabited worlds through the development of maps, environments, characters and narrative.
Always popular, CJC399: Murdered, Missing and the Criminal Justice System looks at the American criminal justice system through the lens of actual criminal cases and what they can teach us about our criminal judicial system. Students explore our system of criminal justice juxtaposed against concepts of justice, fairness and equality.
For those wanting to explore the big (big) questions, RTS327: Technohuman? Technology, Genetics, God and the Future of Humanity asks, “What does it mean to be human in a world using technology to enable human beings to transcend their humanity?” Students look at developments in technology and genetics which alter the human being and which pose significant ethical questions for the future of humanity.
GLO350: Earth 2050 takes on the big questions in a different way, examining systems-based approaches for understanding complex Earth systems and human dynamics across different disciplines, with the goal of meeting the human needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to survive and prosper.
Those are just some of the ideas students will explore, skills they will build and experiences they will have as spring unfolds at Salve.
