Proving once again that your college sucked and everyone everywhere is having more fun than you, the University of Virginia is offering “a four week, discussion-based seminar” course this summer based on the Game of Thrones books and TV series. From UVAToday:
“One of the goals behind this class was to teach students how the skills that we use to study literature are very useful skills for reading literature and TV in conjunction,” Woolfork, an associate professor of English, said. “Game of Thrones is popular, it’s interesting, but it’s also very serious. There are a lot of things in the series that are very weighty, and very meaningful, and can be illuminated through the skills of literary analysis.” […]
One of the most poignant aspects of the series is its capability to reflect the human condition. In a recent class, students discussed “The Red Wedding,” an event consisting of the shocking and gruesome killings of one of the series’ main families, characters that seemed crucial to the series.
But Martin places a greater focus on the aftermath of the violence; after major deaths, the books and the seasons don’t end, as many other series would. One of the greatest lessons of Game of Thrones, the class argues, is how life goes on after death.
The class is being offered for English credit, but I’ve got to believe you can talk your adviser into counting it as religion, too. I mean, there are some very important theological questions being asked here. Has to be worth something.
Source: Jezebel
