Sailing the fresh waters of Michigan or curling up with "The Lord of the Rings" doesn't have to just be a hobby anymore.

There are several old and new classes available at MSU allowing students to enjoy their hobbies in a classroom atmosphere.

But some of these classes are filling up quickly such as Criminal Justice 210, Introduction to Forensic Science with Jay Siegel.

"It's open to anyone who can get in," said Siegel, director of MSU's Forensic Science Program. "This class is all about forensic science, crime science evidence and how it is collected and analyzed."

Students in the class get to dive into the depths of famous cases and figure out how they were solved by professionals, he said.

So far, more than 400 students have signed up for the four-credit class in the fall.

Students looking to satisfy their literary appetite may sign up for CLA 160, Myth and Tolkien, offered by the Department of Romance and Classical Languages. The class is worth three credits and starts in the spring.

"Students get a sense of what (J.R.R.) Tolkein means for our time," said John Rauk, chairman for the department. "We look in ways in which those works create worlds that people can inhabit."

Besides reading the "Lord of the Rings," students also are responsible for interrupting works such as Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" and the Athenian legend "Beowulf."

"Mythology is a true world and a meaningful one," Rauk said. "You can touch them and feel them and really get involved in them.

"It's a fun course that has some meat on it."

But if watching the big screen for class sounds more appealing, there's AEE 212, American Agrarian Movements with Michael Doyle, associate professor of agriculture and natural resources education and communication systems.

"Students (will) gain a knowledge of the history of the United States as depicted by the Western films shown in class," he said.

Students watch nine to 10 feature films including "The Patriot" and "Shenendoah" throughout the semester and are tested on the content and related class materials.

This is the first year the three-credit class is only offered in the fall. The class is open to any student, Doyle said.

If getting out of the classroom for an adventure has a nice ring to it, sailing might be the ticket.

Two sailing courses are offered at MSU, Great Lakes Sailing and Kinesiology 111N. Great Lakes Sailing is a course in which students get to sail Lake Michigan, while Kinesiology 111N is a four-week program available based out of the MSU Sailing Center on the shores of Lake Lansing. Both courses are offered in September.

The Lake Lansing course teaches students safety precautions, sailing theory and boat handling, said Ken Warshaw, instructor for the course.

"You walk in here with no previous knowledge, but at the end you could come in here and rig and sail a small sailboat," he said.

For more information on atypical classes log on to ntweb8.ais.msu.edu/ScheduleBook/schedule.asp.