Quinsigamond Community College Adds Star Wars Course for Fall of 2020
Monday, November 25, 2019
PHOTO: Quinsigamond
The course, which is underway now, is taught by Associate Professor of English Michael Gormley.
"Everyone seems to love that the course represents the ability to draw pop-culture into academia. I developed ‘Star Wars as Narrative and Culture’ because it’s the dream. As a kid (and often enough as an adult), I wrapped myself and my worldview in stories, usually Star Wars. In many ways, I’m still that kid who wouldn’t shut up about Star Wars. Those students who do love Star Wars though, when they heard about the course, always reacted excitedly, often with double-takes or jaw-drop happiness,” said Gormley.
This semester’s course will end at nearly the same time the final Star Wars movie hits theaters.
Star Wars Episode IX “The Rise of Skywalker,” is set to be released on December 20.
“This course can never happen again, in this way. We are preparing for the end of a cinematic and cultural epoch. A course like this empowers students’ visions of themselves by teaching how to turn the things they love into academic and career success,” said Gormley.
The Course
The course delivers students a way in which they can learn and understand abstract concepts that can be tough to grasp.
Through writing and discussions, students analyze the dominant and persistent elements of Star Wars, as well as themes of morality, religion, gender, and race.
The course focuses on Star Wars as a cultural epoch spanning from 1977 to 2019 and curates a nuanced and timely look at the currents that surround and bind the Skywalker Saga with the larger franchise.
“We examine how Star Wars interacts with culture and exists as a culture unto itself. We are also reading most of Chris Taylor’s ‘How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,’ for historical and cultural context, and Ian Doescher’s ‘William Shakespeare’s Star Wars’ to examine how Star Wars interacts with culture,” said Gormley.
The goal of the course beyond learning about the Star Wars franchise and culture, is to give students the opportunity to incorporate what they are passionate about with academics.
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