When I was in college many, many moons ago, I took a class called the History of Rock 'n' Roll.
Now, before you accuse me of going to clown college, let me say that this wasn't a class normally offered by the university. Instead, it was an option during "interterm," which was the three-week period between the first and second semesters where our liberal-arts education was put into full effect.
Students had a whole host of options during interterm. They could take a single class — offered every day, usually for two or three hours — with a wide array of topics to choose from. They could travel (I spent one interterm on a school-sponsored trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Korea). They could take part in a professional internship (I worked at a Kansas City radio station my senior year).
So maybe that's why, along with the obvious subject matter, I was so drawn to a news release I received last night from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., about their interterm program and one of the classes being offered right now — "Caddyshack 101: Lessons from the Coolest Sports Movie Ever Made."
According to the release, the class is using the movie as a starting point for discussions about the dangers of social-class stereotyping, the growth of sports gambling in America, the advancement of catchphrases in language and the importance of civility and etiquette. Most importantly for our audience, they're also using the most famous superintendent in history, Bill Murray's Carl Spackler, to introduce discussions about animal rights and environmental efforts on golf courses.
"We use this hilarious, crude, wonderful film as a way to get into some very serious discussions," says instructor Ted Curtis, who is an assistant professor of sports management at Lynn and a lifelong fan of the film. "As university faculty, we always are trying to find new ways to engage and enlighten our students. With this class, we are doing that through one of the most-popular sports comedies ever made."
And just so you think the class isn't all fun and games, the release goes on to point out that students are required to complete research papers and compile a personal journal about the topics discussed in the class,
Baseball fans also might find this interesting: During last year's interterm, Curtis taught a class called "Reflections on Pinstripes: Viewing Life Through the New York Yankees."
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