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Marvel’s Cinematic Universe Now Offered As College Course

Started by cloud cloddie,

36 posts in this topic

ArnoldTBlumberg

ArnoldTBlumberg

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Having been surprised at how many colleagues in comics and pop culture continue to miss the point of many of the media courses I teach (among many other folks out there), I had written a reply to serve as a general explanation. This was also sparked by the initial response to the worldwide coverage of my course "Zombies in Popular Media," which is still running today but received a lot of the same predictable backlash when it began in 2010. Anyway, as for this Marvel course:

 

"All of these courses are about using familiar pop culture constructs to teach students how to think critically about media, analyze the messages we share with each other via entertainment, and discuss aspects of race, gender, class, ethics, morality, and much more in a way that doesn't bore them but reaches them where they live. Where once classes often focused (and many still do) on a dusty canon of literature on the shelf that may have far less relevance to present-day students and thus less chance of offering relatable sources for those kinds of discussions, these classes utilize what everyone is enjoying here and now to find out what all of it says about us as individuals, a nation, and a culture.

 

We exist in a world *inundated* by media messages. They can change how you think, change who you vote for, change your choices. If you are aware of those messages and understand how to decode media and entertainment, you have the tools you need to make it through this media-saturated environment with care and knowledge. Education isn’t all about teaching you how to build something or training you to get a job; it’s about preparing you for a lifetime in a world filled with agendas, ideas, and people motivated to make up your mind for you.

 

This is why I teach media and critical thinking. It’s not just a job; it’s a responsibility. And as all Marvel fans know, with great power…you’re ahead of me, aren’t you?"

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cloud cloddie

cloud cloddie

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Having been surprised at how many colleagues in comics and pop culture continue to miss the point of many of the media courses I teach (among many other folks out there), I had written a reply to serve as a general explanation. This was also sparked by the initial response to the worldwide coverage of my course "Zombies in Popular Media," which is still running today but received a lot of the same predictable backlash when it began in 2010. Anyway, as for this Marvel course:

 

"All of these courses are about using familiar pop culture constructs to teach students how to think critically about media, analyze the messages we share with each other via entertainment, and discuss aspects of race, gender, class, ethics, morality, and much more in a way that doesn't bore them but reaches them where they live. Where once classes often focused (and many still do) on a dusty canon of literature on the shelf that may have far less relevance to present-day students and thus less chance of offering relatable sources for those kinds of discussions, these classes utilize what everyone is enjoying here and now to find out what all of it says about us as individuals, a nation, and a culture.

 

We exist in a world *inundated* by media messages. They can change how you think, change who you vote for, change your choices. If you are aware of those messages and understand how to decode media and entertainment, you have the tools you need to make it through this media-saturated environment with care and knowledge. Education isn’t all about teaching you how to build something or training you to get a job; it’s about preparing you for a lifetime in a world filled with agendas, ideas, and people motivated to make up your mind for you.

 

This is why I teach media and critical thinking. It’s not just a job; it’s a responsibility. And as all Marvel fans know, with great power…you’re ahead of me, aren’t you?"

 

Thanks for elaborating. :applause:

The class is a while off, but I'd love some updates when it starts.

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Aman619

Aman619

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A buddy of mine taught what was the first of one of the first ever college accredited courses on Comics back in 1973. He told me it was very Marvel DC mainstream based. For the final exam, one hippie type guy didn't write a paper. He drew a comic book story.

 

He said he was so insulted he almost failed the guy... Until he realized that that guys effort was ten times as valid and cool and personal than all the other papers, some of which just transliterated ( analog cut and paste!) from already printed sources like the Feiffer coffee table book.

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ArnoldTBlumberg

ArnoldTBlumberg

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In the Comic Lit. course I've been teaching for 15 years at UMBC, I've always given students the option of doing their final paper in comic book form. They have to adhere to certain requirements of course in terms of length, content, and other factors (they can't draw one image a page :) ), but the results are almost always excellent because they're getting to do something they enjoy *and* expressing an idea.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

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I've taught Comic Book Lit. for 15 years and a number of other courses on superheroes and mythology before getting the chance to teach this course.

 

I would *never* do anything as appalling as what those professors did. In fact it's a point I make in the beginning of every semester - these are classes in observation, interpretation, and finding meaning in media. The students' opinions, as long as they can support them with examples (and I give wide latitude) are just as important and in fact *more* important than mine. I know what I think - I want them to decide what *they* think, and then share it.

 

Hi Arnold!

 

:hi:

 

Good to see you around. Best wishes on your new course!

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ArnoldTBlumberg

ArnoldTBlumberg

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The wait list for this course must be insane!!!

 

I wonder what the textbook is....Avengers Omnibus Vol 1?

 

Well as far as I know, enrollment hasn't begun yet, so we'll see. But I would suspect you'd be right.

 

I don't think I'll be using that one, no, but the syllabus is still in the works! ;)

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Chris_Skeleton

Chris_Skeleton

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I would've loved something like this. The closest thing I got was taking a class to fulfill my minor requirements in Middle East Studies. I took Women of the Middle East and had a 20+ page paper on a topic of my choice due at the end of the semester. I thought I was going to go insane trying to find a topic to write about. I didn't read half of the required reading, and found most of it uninteresting, but then it hit me, "Middle Eastern women in comics". Found a lot of awesome stuff in my research and my teacher, as I came to find out, was into comics, graphic novels, etc and loaned me Persepolis and Habibi. I focused more on the superhero stuff and got to write a paper over the new Ms. Marvel, a couple characters from the Planet DC annuals in 2000, JLA/The 99, and a couple independently published/online comics. Finished at 25 pages and still had a ton more that I could've wrote about.

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