51.7 F
Wrightsville Beach
Friday, March 29, 2024

Surfing classes bring the waves to UNCW classrooms

Must read

By Logan Harle

Intern

Many students attend University of North Carolina Wilmington for its 7-mile distance to the beach, but this school year, UNCW is bringing the beach to the classroom by offering two courses on surfing.

One, the Physics of Surfing taught by Professor Dylan McNamara, gives students a scientific look at the sport, while the History of Surfing, taught by Professor Peter Maguire, offers a view of how the sport developed.

“It is a beach culture campus,” McNamara said. “This is a new way to introduce to students science, physical science and physics through surfing.”

The Physics of Surfing class is a trial course this semester and counts for one credit for students. The class is filled to just about capacity with 72 students enrolled. The class includes a wide variety of surfing knowledge, from the physics of where waves come from, to the dynamics of surfboards and how fins work.

The class is developed for a non-science audience so that it has value to a wide range of students, from fishermen to active water enthusiasts to anyone who has ever lived on the coast and wondered where waves come from.

“The true physics of surfing is a very complicated subject,” McNamara said. “I am trying to teach it in a way that you don’t have to have a ton of math and science background to really learn about the subject.”

In the future McNamara would like the class to count for a basic science requirement or a university studies class but student Michael Casper said he appreciates the learning environment in a class filled with students there only to take the class because it interests them.

“I certainly think it would take the space of a three-credit-hour course and the amount of information that could be learned is mouth-watering but I enjoy the casual, just-for-fun feeling that it currently has,” Casper said.

Even though the class has appeal for non-surfers, Casper said that as a surfer, this class is teaching him new things that are beneficial in the water.

“Knowing exactly how buoys show data, for instance, and knowing how that directly translates to conditions on the beach is much more reliable than looking on Surfline or Swellinfo to say when and where to go surf,” Casper said.

The History of Surfing was offered previously at UNCW but has not had an instructor to teach it for the past few years. Maguire, a lifelong surfer with a PhD in American History, has taken on the class to teach students about modern American history through surfing. The class is a 200-level class, offered by the history department and entails how surfing came of age in Hawaii, California, Australia and elsewhere.

Even though UNCW’s location by the beach makes the class significant for students, Maguire said that the class is valuable for students just about anywhere.

“I think the class would be relevant at the University of Indiana.  Surfing is part of American social history,” Maguire said.

Both courses provide UNCW students with knowledge of the beach culture that surrounds them, while also linking the subject of surfing to college studies.

“It is fascinating to channel scientific insight to the pastime most of us enjoy,” Casper said.

- Advertisement -spot_img

More articles

- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest articles