OK some college courses are a little weird.
Take How to Get Dressed, for instance a freshman seminar at Princeton. But are universities going a little off the deep end these days?
According to Fox News, students can now enroll in Buffyology the study of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Elvish the language of Lord of the Rings, and even a Harry Potter course that looks at how anti-gravity research could create a flying broomstick.
Jacob Young is an editor for Reader's Digest. And he's not too keen on the idea of bringing some pop-culture courses into the classroom. In a recent article he listed a few he thought were worthy of the moniker "Absurd 101." Among them were:
In fact, he claims students can learn as much from him as in any science class for non-majors. It's more about protons and neutrons that wizards and witchcraft.
And Professor David Lavery teaches a course on Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Middle Tennessee State University. He says if you give students a choice, they'll enroll in a film class before 7th century drama. So, these unusual courses are a way of appealing to students AND offering a good education. He says his Buffy course features all the themes of Shakespeare, and even takes a look at military history.
And many scholars agree that pop-culture can be a good launching pad for further academic study.
According to Fox News, students can now enroll in Buffyology the study of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Elvish the language of Lord of the Rings, and even a Harry Potter course that looks at how anti-gravity research could create a flying broomstick.
Jacob Young is an editor for Reader's Digest. And he's not too keen on the idea of bringing some pop-culture courses into the classroom. In a recent article he listed a few he thought were worthy of the moniker "Absurd 101." Among them were:
- How to Watch Television
- The Horror Film
- And The Science of Harry Potter, which is being taught at Frostburg State University in Maryland.
In fact, he claims students can learn as much from him as in any science class for non-majors. It's more about protons and neutrons that wizards and witchcraft.
And Professor David Lavery teaches a course on Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Middle Tennessee State University. He says if you give students a choice, they'll enroll in a film class before 7th century drama. So, these unusual courses are a way of appealing to students AND offering a good education. He says his Buffy course features all the themes of Shakespeare, and even takes a look at military history.
And many scholars agree that pop-culture can be a good launching pad for further academic study.
