Kanye West’s remixed “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” blasts in the background. Photographs of sunsets and waterfalls adorn the room’s desks; recreating these images by pastel, some students are listening to iPods. Others chat.

This is class?

Welcome to “Retracing Your Imagination: Self-Expression Through Drawing,” one of the six Student Initiated Courses (SICs) offered this quarter. Initiated in 1999 as one- or two-unit credit/no credit classes led by students, SICs offered this quarter range in topic from Web applications to the reduction of Stanford’s carbon footprint.

Instructors create courses on subjects they feel are under-explored and underserved by the current curriculum.

“Stanford has so much to offer,” said Mei Li ‘09, co-instructor of “Retracing Your Imagination,” “but fine and visual arts opportunities are very limited for non-majors.”

Faculty and students also say SICs offer a different approach to learning. Instead of making class a “top-down delivering of knowledge,” said English Prof. Judith Richardson, SICs “put into action the idea that learning is a collaborative, multifarious process.”

Classes vary in format according to the design of course leaders.

For example, the class Richardson sponsors, “Harry Potter and the Arc of Storytelling,” is largely discussion-based. “A Beginner’s Guide to Bridge” is about half lecture and half actual play. In Li’s studio art class, students listen to pointers for a few minutes before launching into personal drawing time and small group critiques.

Homework loads also vary. “Harry Potter” students read about one book a week and focus on a central theme such as family. The bridge class assigns problem set-like work every week, and studio art students turn in one piece every two weeks. SICs tend to weigh attendance and effort most heavily, with students graded by faculty sponsors based on instructors’ recommendations.

Many SICs make an effort to interact with the outside community, part of a broadly construed service learning requirement. Studio art students plan to volunteer once this quarter in East Palo Alto and put on an exhibit. Bridge students have the opportunity to play in a national tournament held in San Franscisco in November. The “Harry Potter” instructors considered including a requirement to submit material to Harry Potter fan website Mugglenet.com.

To create a SIC, prospective course leaders must submit a proposal with a general mission statement, syllabus and budget estimate one quarter prior to the desired instruction period.

The panel, which consists of four students and four faculty members, puts no cap on SIC approval. But SIC Coordinator Sean Arenson ‘08 said that not everyone with a random idea can run a class for credit.

“Applications must be of very high quality for the panel to consider them worthy of Stanford units,” Arenson said. “Applicants that fall short of this standard receive feedback and are encouraged to reapply in a subsequent quarter.”

Another part of the application process is to find a faculty sponsor who will help solidify the syllabus and check in throughout the quarter. While some students had difficulty finding faculty sponsors, others found professors eager and willing to help.

“I get ‘first dibs,’ a front-row seat on the phenomenon,” Richardson said. “It is a learning experience for me, too.”

Richardson is also enthusiastic about the effect on her department.

“SICs can have the effect of keeping the more formal departmental institutions on their toes, as these classes pick up on and point to developing or neglected areas,” she said.

And though SICs might be less formal than other classes, they provide a more structured environment than simply pursuing a hobby in spare time — something students like.

“I like art, but it’s hard to do it unless you have to do it,” said Cameron Lamming ‘11, a student in Li’s class.

Ultimately, SIC advocates hope that the overall SIC creation and enrollment process will become even more ingrained in Stanford culture.

“Along with introductory seminars and Sophomore College, we want students to consider SICs an essential part of the Stanford experience,” Arenson said.

Even the more lighthearted classes?

“I seriously have to defend it to everyone,” said “Harry Potter” class leader Caley Anderson ‘08.

“Screw them,” said her co-instructor, Christine O’Connell ‘08. “I don’t care.”