As far as I know, we just do the course we elect and are accepted in? I haven't heard anything about doing additional courses, surprisingly.
Stalin's Russia course? I would most definitely be the one yelling YOU SUCK, STALIN and REVISIONIST REVISIONIST REVISIONIST.
The amount of courses you are required to do to complete your major is (normally) less than the amount of courses you are required to do to complete your degree. Your standard three-year degree is a total of 24 courses. Now, I think when I did my double major in history and political science, I had to do 10 courses of history and 10 courses of political science - so I could've done four other courses in any discipline if I wanted. (As it happened, I did a total of 13 history and 11 political science.) You'll probably have some latitude to do a couple of personal interest courses outside your major too, even if non-Arts degrees can be more strict on course progression and major requirements.