“We get a lot of visitors for that class,” he said. Huddler is also the first to admit that the day he gives his lecture on hallucinogenic mushrooms, commonly known as ‘shrooms, the class size is disproportionately larger, and often filled with students who are not enrolled in the class. Of this Huddler admits that there was “a little salesmanship” in naming the class, and the name “has served that purpose.” Many falsely whisper about the class, believing that it is a “gateway” to a supposed underground hallucinogenic drug culture at Cornell. The class has consistently enrolled about 250 to 300 students every year, and there have never been any mass exoduses from the class after students learn that the class is not dedicated to controlled substance, but rather merely glances upon them. Gualtieri credits Huddler’s “witty jokes and genuine interest in the subject”, as the reason for the class’ continuing popularity. “His original perspectives and cutting edge theories embody the quintessential Ivy-league education,” said Claudio Gualtieri ’03. Students have responded well to Huddler’s elimination of jargon.

“I try to keep it as non-technical as possible,” Huddler says. The class, in its 14th year, is a unique introduction to plant pathology designed for non-majors. These titles seem far more appropriate for The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test than they do for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ plant pathology class.īut that is exactly what they are: lecture titles for the Ag School’s “Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds” (PA PL 201), taught by Prof.

Takenote cornell magical mushroom