Have you ever wanted to become fluent in Sanskrit or Swahili? How about hitting the beach- for a global politics course? If you’ve ever wanted to shake things up, consider giving belly dancing a try.

Spring offers a wealth of courses to sample on hundreds of topics throughout the city. There are courses designed for fun and enrichment, courses for folks who want to learn more about their professions, and courses for those who are searching for an entirely new career path altogether.

At New York University, classes like “New Kid on the Career Block: How to Make a Good Impression in Your 20s,” “Assertiveness in the Workplace,” “Is Teaching Really for Me?” and “Turning Your Passion Into Your Profession,” offer advice for newcomers to the working world, and veterans who realize they want to start over.

Aspiring culinary masters may enjoy “So You’ve Always Wanted to be a Chef.” Students will learn about the range of settings in which chefs work, the skills needed to be successful, where to get the best training, and opportunities and challenges for career changers.

Fashionistas will appreciate “Six Great Fashion Houses and How They Reinvented Themselves.” Over six sessions taught by June Weir, students will visit Burberry, Dior, Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel, to learn about how they achieved their legendary status and signature looks.

Also new this spring at NYU is “Introduction to Homeland Security,” three 8-hour sessions applicable toward a certificate in emergency management, or a certificate in homeland security.

A series of global politics courses taught by Ralph Buultjens have proven so popular in the past, he has amassed a contingent of loyal followers who make a pilgrimage to Palm Beach to retake his class after taking it at NYU’s Manhattan campus, said a spokesman for the university, Christopher James. “He’s a very dynamic instructor,” Mr. James said.

Mr. Buultjens’s course, “Global Politics: The Changing Power Structure,” covers topics including “America and the World: The Next Four Years,” “The West vs. the Rest?” and “Israel and its Neighbors.”

At Columbia University, the favorites are typically reminiscent of the school’s core curriculum, according to the University’s director of Continuing Education, Trudi Baldwin.

The Elective Studies program offers nondegree students a chance to earn credits while studying with Columbia students and faculty. Students can choose from a long list of courses including “Masterpieces of Western Art,” “Understanding Six Sigma,” and “Personal Investment Management.”

Columbia’s newest venture is their Evening Extension program, which offers a limited number of not-for-credit courses at a reduced rate.

New School University offers a variety of topics each year, including a tasting of olive oils, cheeses, and prosciuttos, a stand-up comedy workshop, “Psychology of Dreams,” “Dining Etiquette for Adults,” and “So You Want to Write a Novel.”

Some of the new courses being offered at the New School this year include, “Comparative Politics: Case Study of Iraq: Dilemmas of Humanitarian Intervention,” “Understanding Adulthood,” “Rock Opera,” “Wall of Separation and its Cracks: Religion in Politics,” “Robert Altman’s Cinema of the 70’s (with screening series),” “Graphic Novel Workshop,” “How to Start a Home Business,” and “Thai Markets: Shop and Cook.”

During “Friday Night Fetes,” a new cooking course offered at the New School this spring, the class prepares a meal and each student is allowed to bring one guest to help them eat it.

At the City University of New York, try “Help Your Children Help Themselves at School,” and “Life Coaching: Making Every Day Count.”

Brooklyn College offers a new Saturday morning book club, as well as “How to Apply Makeup While Your Face is Getting Older.”

Among the new offerings at the Cooper Union is a new high level calligraphy course taught by acclaimed lettering designer Julian Waters. Also available is a course in painting and drawing in chiaroscuro, and “Scared Stiff: History and Meaning of the Horror Film.” Painting with oil sticks will be back for a second term.

Making its debut this season is a course for aspiring e-commerce pros, “Selling on eBay,” taught by eBay Certified Education Specialists, Marcia Cooper and Harvey Levine. “I’m probably going to take that myself,” said David Greenstein, the director of continuing education and public programs for Cooper Union.

Also on the menu is “Writing Life: Putting Yourself on Paper,” which teaches students the art of writing a memoir.

Foreign language literature and conversation courses are always popular. With plenty of languages from Armenian to Tagalog to Yiddish available throughout the city, there are options open to people interested in learning the lingua franca of any corner of the globe.

Course listings are available at the colleges’ Web sites, and tuition rates vary by institution, depending on the course topic, materials needed, and number of sessions.