Game of Thrones has made its way into many people’s lives but this coming Spring, it is making its way into college courses.

Professor Samuel Avery at the State University of New York at Cortland will be offering a course based on the first three Game of Thrones books and how they compare to the HBO show.

Avery expresses:

As an educator, it has been my experience that college students are generally alliterate – meaning that they CAN read but choose not to. This is problematic because the act of reading is often so closely linked to the success of a person. The more a person reads, the better a person writes and the better a person writes, the more successful that person is likely going to be. 

There are many colleges who are now offering courses based around television shows. Syracuse University offers courses on Doctor Who and Star Trek and Buffalo State offers one on Breaking Bad. This is not uncommon. In fact, the University of Virginia had its own Game of Thrones course this past summer that discussed fan culture and online spoilers that really make you question the logic and theories behind the characters and story.

While Avery also explains that the HBO show will be discussed, the texts will be the primary source. Through analyzing the first three texts, students will look into storytelling techniques and character development. Avery also expresses that the class will be fun because he plans to split up his students into different houses and have them ‘fight it out’ as Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, and Targaryens. He ultimately explains that his students should be ready for betrayals, battles, and book in the Spring.

Personally, I think this is fantastic! I wish my school would get courses like these. I would love this! I think it’s a great idea because it’s a course on something you actually want to read whereas most literature classes don’t have very enjoyable material. As someone who has taken countless literature courses in school, I can say that not every piece of material is fascinating. I would love to take a whole course dedicated to Game of Thrones. 

What do you guys think? Would you take this course? Any problems you see with it? I’m curious as to how compelling Avery’s argument was with the Dean in order to get this class going. I really wonder about that. Haha

You can check out the full article HERE

Hope you enjoyed!