Spring additions to the Norris Mini Courses schedule give students a chance to explore interests from holistic medicine to Web site design.

Norris Mini Courses are classes that students can take outside of academic requirements to experience a wide variety of interests. About 30 classes are offered each quarter through Norris University Center in categories such as arts and crafts, language, music and games, mind and body, and dance. Spring courses begin Saturday.

“The mini courses are a really great opportunity for students to explore all that there is to do on campus,” said Aurelia Clunie, the Norris Mini Courses program assistant in charge of coordinating the classes for each quarter.

Clunie said she views the courses as ways for students to learn interesting things, typically not offered in Northwestern classes, in a relaxed setting.

The courses are also open to Evanston residents for a slightly higher price. For the overall program, enrollment is typically about 60 percent NU community and 40 percent Evanston residents, Clunie said.

Clunie said an exciting feature of this quarter’s class offerings is the cake decorating class, which is being offered again due to many student requests. Chicago pastry chef Jeremy Sher teaches the class.

Communication freshman Mori Einsidler said she enjoyed the harmonica mini course she took during Winter Quarter and would consider taking another course in the future.

“I felt like I learned a lot, but more importantly, it cultivated my interest in harmonica, so I decided I’m going to teach myself,” Einsidler said.

Most courses begin in mid-April and run through late May. Courses range from “super mini” workshops, with only one to two sessions, to full mini courses with up to six sessions. The full courses cost between $52 and $99, and all materials are included.

“The lower the better, but as far as (the price) goes, it’s very reasonable,” Einsidler said.Clunie said she finds instructors based on their knowledge and “deep history” of the subject. Because of these factors, some NU professors and even students teach mini courses. Weinberg junior Paul Gafni teaches the chess class, and Yun Kim, a distributed support specialist in the biomedical engineering department, teaches a Korean mini course.

Weinberg freshman Vanessa Gonzalez-Block said her instructor during a Winter Quarter ceramics class was very knowledgeable. The instructor even made herself available at other times during the week for class participants to get extra help with their projects, Gonzalez-Block said.

“She basically taught us how to make pottery, and I never really got real instruction before,” she said.

Einsidler said she would definitely recommend mini courses to others.

“If you’re in college, it’s a good thing to do because you can try anything,” she said.[email protected]