Smash Bros Theory: 6 Absurd Classes Taught at Actual Colleges

All righty; I was an English major, so I thought some of my classes were kinda off-beat. I was allowed to take an independent study 1-credit-hour honors course on "The Sandman" comic series by Neil Gaiman. The professor and I discussed whether or not studying it in an "academic" context stripped it of its "alternative"/counter-culture/"cool" status. Also, how could a work with so many academic and cultural/mythological/religious references truly be considered so hip, cool, cutting-edge, and modern? I also raised an eyebrow at my full 3-hour class of Science Fiction (oddly enough, taught by the same professor), but it was a *really* good class - when I saw it on the syllabus, I jumped at the chance to take it. We read works from Heinlein, Gibson, Teppler, Bear, Le Guin, Vinge, and others. By the way, I attended your run-of-the-mill state school.

As far as the authors of this article never having heard of Oberlin before, that surprises the crap out of me. Oberlin has traditionally been a well-respected liberal arts college. Again, maybe that's because I was an English major...
I'm a little surprised they offer a full class on a single Super Mario Brothers title. To be honest, I could see a psychology (or even a business management) class offering a course outlining a human dynamics course that examines how people interact when playing such console games, either in a 1x1 setting face-to-face, separated but in the same room, or in online play, and also how people related to each other when playing in teams. But an entire semester on a single title? I'd just have a hard time coming up with lesson plans for the entire semester.

As far as the Stupidity class at Occidental College goes, were I to hazard a guess of the point of analyzing it, I think the point is not analyzing *what* is considered "stupid," but *why* people judge things as stupid. Why do we feel the need to place such labels on people, things, comments, reactions, et cetera, and what purpose do those labels and judgments serve in a social context?
I agree that it can be hard to take a course on Stupidity seriously when the description fails to spell the name of two characters it cites as examples correctly (trust me, you have no idea how hard it was for me to look past that, given I'm an editor). But there may be significantly more to this course than initially meets the eye.

Occidental guy, you majored in baloney.

dude i go to sf state... they're surprisingly obsessed with sex, considering their closer-to-middle political views and such a big city, etc. (this coming from a guy who went to Humboldt State for a semester... so yeah, at that point, f*****g Mao is closer-to-middle politically)

Occidental can blow me.

I went to Occidental, I majored in Critical Theory and Social Justice, and I took Stupidity. I found it to be invaluable. It taught me how to think, and think crtically. The fact that the course description has been interpreted in such ways (stupidity occupying the sign of the feminine does not translate to "women are stupid"), in addition to the reaction to courses like Whiteness and Blackness (also on my transcript), only leads me to believe that there is a sad, sad absence of thinking. No, this website is not meant to be "serious." But when approached with critical thinking, popular culture is an amazing reflection of society. Not only does this legitimize, in my mind, all of these courses, but it makes this website and others like it fair game for inclusion in any of them - especially Stupidity.

Okay so I go to Oberlin, and no, no one has ever heard of it, but its still a very good school. Especially because Super Smash Brothers is not the only class of its type. We have classes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and on the TV series Six Feet Under, and on Rapper Sword Dancing, and on Storytelling.
So just cause our mascot is a Yeoman and we're located in the cornfields of Ohio doesn't mean we're not legit.

Yeah, but it's hard to imagine how Smash Bros theory will affect anybody's life.

I didn't say smash bros. theory was groundbreaking, but it definitely isn't traditional. And in order to teach courses that are groundbreaking, we need academic standards that allow for non-traditional course material. Some of these courses actually are groundbreaking, but it's easy to deride them when you don't know much about them. The reason I'm "taking this seriously" is because there is a pretty considerable movement of neoconservatives who are lobbying for standards of "Academic Freedom" which would, ironically, censor a lot of material in the classroom for being too "political" or inappropriate. We should be aware of the ramifications.

Falco: since when is the theory of Super Smash Brothers Melee a "groundbreaking new theory"? Please.

bakatothefuture- if you're curious as to whether the average joe in ohio knows your school, what is it (dont want to make assumptions)? Being from Ohio originally, I could probably give you an idea. btw i dont know that many people named Joe, how about the average Dick there?

Last I knew, falco, the purpose of this website was to provide humor, which often manifests in the form of tongue-in-cheek social commentary.

This isn't a serious condemnation of the state of affairs in modern post-secondary education, it's an article on a humor website.

Does that really need to be explained?

Also, ModernDemagogue:
Am I ignorant if I don't know the top twenty shotput throwers of France, the top twenty armaments dealers in the U.K., and the top twenty liberal arts colleges in the U.S.A.?

I attended the #1 undergrad engineering institute in the U.S.A., and I can guarantee that your average Joe in Ohio has barely heard of it.
I don't expect them to know about it, and I certainly won't rub it in anyone's nose if they don't.
That would make me an asshat; which, thankfully, I am not, and, regrettably, you are.
Piss off.

falco528 - the purpose of this website is indeed to do things such as scour college websites and make fun of them for doing ridiculous things. If that's not your thing, I'm sure can find other websites that are a bit more boring.

It seems that jdelatorre is correct about that department. We can't forget to take "Critical Blackness" and "The Phallus".

So at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) one of my friends was teaching a class (and I'm not making this s**t up) on Zombies. I think it was listed as Zombie Survival. I didn't get to take it but it's the coolest s**t I've ever heard of.

I go to Occidental and Jdelatorre is full of it...there is no class called "getting high."

Ask yourself, seriously, is the purpose of this web site to police schools to make sure they only teach things that are traditional? Do you want colleges to keep teaching old-fashioned stuff, or do you want professors to be able to be groundbreaking and approach new issues? Clearly, all of these classes are risky: they are more likely to be un-rigorous than a class on Shakespeare. But wouldn’t you rather take something original if you went to one of these schools?

Let me add that I go to Occidental, and Stupidity isn't even the dumbest one. That honor has to go to "Getting High" and "Blackness" (with a prerequisite of "Whiteness").... actually, these are all in the same department, which is basically a disease at the school. Its called, get this, Critical Theory and Social Justice; when I told my dad about that he busted up, still good for a laugh to see all the "best and brightest" (aka biggest bleeding hearts and most out of touch with reality) waste away their time reading Marx, watching sitcoms, and telling everyone how racist and sexist everything is, even if they aren't intentionally!

coventry is a shithole

I always looked for good underwater-basket waving classes to fill in electives when I was in college... Sadly, none of them came anywhere near #1.

Mr.Harrisonsan: "how to be a total condescending douchebag."? I am so there!

All of your base are belong to Meeeeeeee!

When asked: "Can you stop a speeding bullet?"
I say: "Once!"

"No studying!"

oh, I Ganja!

Does the superhero class teach you how to be a superhero groupie? Cuz I'd totally die to give iron man a b*****b.

Occidental College also offers a class on South American manliness.

http://departments.oxy.edu/registrar/catalog/ctsj.html#247