The Wheel of Time taught at college?

[Southpaw89]

do you think The Wheel of Time could be taught as a college class in universities? If so, what would be taught regarding the series and could it possibly be done with a series so long and extensive? Robert Jordan was a master at storytelling and his work should be explored more so what type of themes or lessons could college professors teach if it was done?

[Never]

Ehm, a languageteacher might use the series, but I don't think WoT could be a subject on its own. I mean, what would be the use of it?

[ironisles]

Ehm, a languageteacher might use the series, but I don't think WoT could be a subject on its own. I mean, what would be the use of it?

 

Beats a philosophy major.

[Southpaw89]

well there are a lot of mythological references hidden in WoT and just all around literary techniques used well in the series that could be discussed. Idk

[Suttree]

Look I love the WoT but this is a bit of a stretch. I was a Lit Major and I'm sorry to say the series just doesn't really hold up on it's own when compared to other works outside the fantasy genre.

 

What you could do is incorporate it into something exploring the history and evolution of myth all the way up into modern fantasy storytelling.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i took sillier classes. history of the future and history of WWIII come to mind.

[randsc]

I agree with Suttree on the place of tWoT in the literary universe.

 

I would also add that the standard university term, at least in the US, doesn't really lend itself to the study of a work as wordy as tWoT. You're basically talking about 15 weeks. While it is certainly possible to read a WoT book a week, and it isn't even hard to do so, the students would also usually have four other classes going on.

 

Bottom line is that there are no themes that could be explored through study of tWoT that couldn't be explored much more efficiently using other works.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

sometimes you just need the two credits. guaranteed, if the author was a prof, anything he wrote would be required reading.

 

surely you know there are one or two colleges with one or two iffy classes available in the US?

[Guest PiotrekS]

I guess WOT is not a biggest masterpiece in world literature, but as Cindy said (well, kind of ), all kinds of stuff are being taught, some of them really silly. I will refrain from mentioning any examples

 

A class on WOT may be weird, but won't hurt either, especially compared to some other options that are commonly accepted or even fashionable.

 

But certainly, this course shouldn't be strictly literary. Maybe it could be a socialogical course on epic fantasy phenomenon, which could include not only the books, but also Dragonmount , a wonderfully weird fan community that WOT has generated, its popularity and creation process lasting for long years...I guess sociology or psychology of literature, maybe something on epic fantasy tropes...

[Leyrann]

i took sillier classes. history of the future and history of WWIII come to mind.

 

What was history of the future about, exactly?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

well, it was 25 years ago, so it was about the last 25 years. but it didn't turn out as expected. might still in the end, though.

 

uh, mainly it was about how WWIII starts. and we read books like ecotopia and a canticle for liebowitz and history of the future, i think. and we watched movies like dr strangelove and fail safe. it was fun, but silly.

[Snarf]

Dang straight it didn't turn out as expected. Where's my flying car?? I could see a creative writing class that might touch on WoT as an example of what happens when you let your characters run away from you. As far as an entire curriculum based on the series, that seems rather far fetched.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/02/25/the-15-strangest-college-courses-in-america/

 

seriously not stranger than half of these.

[theradave]

I think there might be some room for the study of on-line WoT fandom. I think we're a pretty interesting group, and I bet a sociologist would have a field day looking at, and thinking about, us.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i could see a trekkies type documentary at the very least. i think they're trying to do one at theoryland about the who killed whatshisname thingy.

[Majsju]

A Swedish university has a course in Harry Potter

 

Of course, the focus is not so much on the books, as on things like what made them so successful, and the business aspect.

[Never]

Ehm, a languageteacher might use the series, but I don't think WoT could be a subject on its own. I mean, what would be the use of it?

 

Beats a philosophy major.

 

Which I am planning on getting. Not that I wouldn't have gotten a WoT-major if possible.

 

By the way, do you know how to get a philosophy major off your porch?

 

 

 

Pay for the pizza

 

[Southpaw89]

ah ok thanks for the responses. It's my last year of college and was just thinking about how epic it would've been to take one on the WoT haha but it's of course just hopeful thinking. If there was such a class and I didn't get an A I'd be pissed

[Terez]

Classes have prerequisites, so why not make it a prerequisite to read the books? That way you can go through the books and study the greatest things about the series from the beginning - foreshadowing, parallelism, character development, etc. I disagree that WoT has no place in the academic sphere; there are all sorts of criteria that can be used to judge which books have more academic value, and there's nothing to say that the current academic criteria are the best ones, or relevant to reality in any way.

 

It can essentially be used as a forum course example of epic fantasy - most likely the sort of thing grad students and upperclassmen would be interested in. Not a regular course, but a seminar. (One could also do a seminar on GRRM, or Erikson, etc.) WoT has a lot to offer in that area, because it's probably the best example of a sprawling epic, the inherent problems in such a thing, and on top of that, it's an example of an author finishing another person's story. The interviews would be very instructive on that point. (Side reading.)

[Mats Spare Hat]

You could probably create a course and label it with an obscure sort of area credit label for a curricula core...like a creative, or english elective, that sort of thing...Hell you could even label it Reading Intensive and have people need to plow through a book every two or three days to keep up.

 

...My alma mater offered an Intro to Science Fiction & Fantasy course. *coughs having upped nerd factor

 

I think where you run into an issue is boiling things down to one specific series, that albeit loved & appreciated by many, isn't something I personally believe Joe College off the street would be aware of at all, even if only by name. In contrast with Harry Potter, which was mentioned, it's a worldwide pop culture iconic subject...books, movies, video games, apparel, there's a freakin` themepark!

 

Say you're looking through a course catalog, and you're Joe College. How many Joe College's out there are going to see a course about WoT, having to read or have read 14 books before or during, for 3 credits lets say.

 

Now flip to the courses where you get 1 credit for Intro to Tennis.

 

---

 

If you ask me, if you want to explore WoT for credit towards a degree, try for an individual self-study angle...Maybe you'll find a sympathetic department head that won't give you a look & a 'Wheel of what?'

[Southpaw89]

in one of my advanced english classes a few years ago we had a section learning about the heroes journey. An examination of Rand's would be great to explore due to the twist that's added to it. Not only does he have to deal with the shadow, he has to deal with his own sanity while uniting the world.

[white_wolf]

Well I'm currently taking an English course on Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings, so I suppose the Wheel of Time is possible.