For all those students who find themselves in need of a good elective course to fulfill requirements—seniors trying to graduate or underclassmen trying to finish up basic studies—consider taking Dr. Mike Adams’ course on separation of church and state this coming semester. His eyes light up whenever he gets the chance to speak about it. Without even being asked a question, he launched off into a description of how he envisions the course.

“It probably strikes people as a little bit strange that I’ll be covering such a specific thing as separation of church and state,” said Dr. Adams, “but if you look into it there is more than enough content to cover in one semester.” Adams intends on looking in-depth at 53 different Supreme Court cases involving the separation of church and state to monitor how the principle has evolved over time.

Adams hopes the class will draw people who will opine on all sides of the spectrum. Despite his reputation for being as far on the conservative side as a human being can get, he seemed moderate on the issue of separation of church and state. “Most people would agree that where we came from is not where we want to be,” Adams said, “but I think most would also say we may have gone a little too far towards secularism.”

I don’t know how most people feel about the issue—I haven’t done any surveys or polls—but I can say that I would tend to agree with that sentiment. I do not consider myself a religious person, but despite my lack of religion, I have never been personally offended when I’ve come across a religious symbol, message or even a person praying.

The idea that separation of church and state means none of our school holidays can be aptly titled is a little ridiculous. We get most of December off because a large percentage of the U.S. is Christian, and Christmas is celebrated during that time. I understand Chanukah and Kwanzaa are also during that time period, but if those were the only groups celebrating holidays, we’d probably have a small break, but nothing along the lines of a full month.

Dr. Adams mentioned a couple similar examples when speaking on his thoughts about separation of church and state. His knowledge base on the subject is much more extensive than my own, and that’s one of the reasons why I think his class should be genuinely interesting.

If you do decide to take my advice and take Dr. Adams’ course, it’s likely you’ll see me sitting on the front row.