Slashdot Mirror
University offers 'Simpsons' as Philosophy Class
joestump98 writes "I ran accross a story at CNN that says a local Michigan college, Siena Heights, is offering a philosophy class on our favorite cartoon - The Simpsons. The Catholic school says the class is about religion and philosphy in popular culture." And I thought Rocks for Jocks was a hilarious concept in wasting a college education. That said, I'd take that class. Have to make sure to watch my homework tonight.
dun dun dun,dun dun dun dun, dundundundundun, dundundundund, dund dun dun dun
me fail
english, thats umpossible
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows - Bart Simpson
What's new about this is that an entire course is being dedicated to them.
"Bloody marvelous."
this isn't much of a surprise, as an oprah class has been in the works for awhile...
and they say education in the us isn't going downhill...
Runnin' On Empty
Now an X-Files or Star Trek one... That would be the height of human endeavour... But I probably shouldn't get into that. :D
Pain(n): when you're telnetting into a box doing somethin cool, and some luser calls for help with a 'critical error' ad
Worhtless? Many people I know consider the simpsons to be a work of art to be heralded far in the future as one of the greatest classics of our time! This show has merit!
"Question with boldness even the existence of a god." - Thomas Jefferson
Imagine if Nacho Eating was part of the Family Science Degree... i could be yet another degree holding unemployed member of america!!
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
For 12 seasons, "The Simpsons" has mined religious subjects for laughs. The staple of the Fox network has sometimes been called sacrilegious
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....sacrilicious.....
That episode, in my opinion was one of the best episodes ever. Lots o' religous commentary. I have always been really pleased with their social commentary as well. Little bits like "most people marry out of fear of growing old alone" is a resounding one.
This sound like it could be a great class and it would be a hoot to sit in on. One can always hope that the one of the questions on the final would be...
In 500 words or less describe the moral, ethical, and religous foundations in Homer's refrain of "Mmmmmmm donuts."
Either give it away or get top dollar, but never sell yourself cheap.
Worst class ever.
Won't somebody please think of the children..
Mmm.. Philosophy..
air and light and time and space
I know a local educator who I hold in very high regard. He is also a director of local theatre and occational on-screen movie critic. A rather senior fellow, he tends have very high standards for excellence. I was sitting in "Green Room" (where actors wait for the show to start) shooting the breeze. For years I dismissed the Simpsons as "pop trash." You could have picked me up off the floor when I heard him declare that the Simpsons was one of the finest works on television.
This is a boring sig
Interesting, they probably are more interested in "debunking" it.
God is my favorite fictional character! -- Homer Simpson
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Actually, a lot of the older simpsons episodes DID have some good psycology/sociology insights, around seasons 3-7. Now though its mostly another sitcom. But a damn good one. (On a partially unrelated note, the Simpsons are bringing back their old writer! Hurrah!)
I have seen a few colleges that do this.
X(7): A program for managing terminal windows. See also screen(1).
The Simpsons have been delivering witty, insightful, accurate and fairly balanced social and political commentry for years, without ever resorting to anything really base or gratuatious. They are consistenly funny and inoffensive. Mind you, if your average (American, but not only American) viewer paid more attention to what they watched they may be made to contemplate now and then, and realise that alot of the barbs snuck in to the families' banter is aimed at them.
I can't name the number of times I've stopped and said "hey, this is just like the Simpsons when Homer..." about my own behaviour or the bahviour of my friends. D'oh!
Reliable, Great Value Hosting: $7.95/mo 2.4G/120G
I guess Christ is Christ.
Please stop feeding peanuts to my deity.
Check out various offerings from a google search. No word on whether the class is still being offered.
Who went to college at Mills. And she told me about how she was taking a course on bowling and I was like "Bowling? You're going to college to learn how to bowl? And they're giving you credit for it?" And she didn't really get why I found that so strange, but hey, it just goes to show... uhm... yeah nevermind.
Just so everyone knows why we're the fastest growing University of California:
Here's a list of some of the interesting classes that are availabe from time to time
Understanding Drugs (Bioc 80) -- Yes, you talk about doing various drugs...
Lesbian and Gay World (CMMU 80F) -- I'm still trying to figure out why it's bad to think people have nothing wrong with them until they tell me their gay... Nevermind, can't remember the group that was spouting that off...
Hope/Crisis Capitalism (Econ 80A) -- I don't know, haven't taken it and don't know anyone who has...
Technothrillers (Film 80A) -- Watching, you guessed it, technothrillers
Intro to Horror Films (Lit 80T) -- Horror movies are your friends... From what I hear you watch a couple dozen horror films (as far back as like the 1890s IIRC)
Beatles Music (MUSC 80V)
Saturday Night Live (Theater 80O)
80's: Film And TV (Film 80) -- 80's: The decade that only one good thing came out of: mst3k
Psychophysic Music (Phys 80a) -- I don't know about this one
Muppet Magic (Thea 80L) -- 10 weeks of Jim Henson's Muppets, and why we should all bow down to him... Or something
Queer Theater (Thea 80T) -- It just struck me as funny... I guess it shouldn't seeing as how we have a high proportion of homosexuals here...
Disney (Thea 80N) -- The class I took. The only thing I remember from it is that they used a really neat looking camera setup to do framed shots for their early movies-- Hence why they were better than other stuff from the same era.. Oh, yeah, and my TA (with a speech impediment) saying "nubile" in regards to the Little Mermaid, I think...
And to think, you have to take 2 topical (80) courses to get out of here...
Hasta luego,
ex
Good work, you fooled me, and i'm usually not fooled by goatsex links. Luckily i have the site redirected in my /etc/hosts.
Just out of curiosity, did you moderate the post up yourself, or did moron moderators do it?
--
Mod up a post Rob doesn't like and you'll never mod again
Besides that, the simpsons is funny as hell offers quotes for every occasion from "D'oh!" to "Ahhh the Navy, see the world and all the free gay sex you can handle." :-)
The simpsons first season is now on DVD.. I'm getting them all when they come out.
Humorless sig goes here.
Christmas Film Class (Drexel U)
Films of Keanu Reeves
Cloudwatching class (really!)
Sociology
The Simpsons, albeit a cartoon show, often offers social commentary and true philosophical views. A book that I recently read is The Simpsons and Philosophy, which goes into great detail about how different philosophers would interpret the characters of OFF (Our Favorite Family--abbreviation used a lot in alt.tv.simpsons).
For example, maybe Maggie is just being silent to be silent, or maybe that silence could be interpreted as a social protest. Sartre would certainly think so, anyway.
My point is simply that this show goes far beyond what it appears to be on the surface. Plain & Simple, anything that stimulates your mind and provokes positive thoughtstreams is not waste; to call it that shows how much you truly still have to learn.
See you at the party Ricter!!!
I'm not a philosopher, and I don't play one on TV, but my recollection is that many of the Greek philosophers used works of poetry as the starting point for their philosophical discussions. Since the poetry of that day was primarily entertainment, there is significant precendent for using something like The Simpsons as the basis for educational purposes.
Bleh, there's nothing philosophical about this season's (or the past two or three's) Simpsons episodes. They're just pointless. There's no plot, no jokes, nothing. I keep watching, in the vain hope that they'll improve, but they probably won't. That episode last week really was the Worst Episode Ever, totally dull and pointless. Whatever, rant over.
If it ain't broke, you need more software.
Roommate"Stop watching Simpsons and do your homework."
Me: "But this is my homework!"
Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com
...that the education system is in complete shambles, when it becomes necessary to introduce courses like this.
In all likelyhood, they're the equivalent of the underwater soap-carving courses that engineering students take to "satisfy" the arts requirement component of their curriculum.
In the story, who's speaking up about the course? A biology major -- a geek who is apparently too dim to recognize that a broad education is valuable, and has chosen to take a flakey course to satisfy a requisite with minimum effort.
Why on earth are the universities catering to this sort of limited, lazy thinking?
The job of the university should be to create a graduation class of people who are going to lead the advancement of the arts and sciences. To do so, these people are going to require a broad education, one that has challenged them on all fronts and forced them to think creatively and thoughtfully. They need to be people who are eternally curious, doggedly determined, and, above all, brilliant.
Serving up Simpsons swill as some sort of philosophy substitute is not doing anyone a favour.
Perhaps the standards have dropped too low. Maybe you don't have to be particularly smart to enter university any more: you just have to have money. Perhaps there's too much emphasis in the job market on post-secondary degrees. And the past three decade's emphasis on sciences as the be-all and end-all goal of education is certainly at fault: we need more technically-trained people (ie. college-level job training) than we need science/structure-trained people.
"The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer," indeed. Next up: "An Overview of Political Philosophies: The Travels of Xena, Warrior Princess."
Bah.
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Good luck getting a job! You got a good point but you got to be independently wealthy to take this class.
Help fight continental drift.
This isn't that amazing, really; Simpsons philosophy classes have been out there forever. I think I recall hearing about one at Stanford a few years back (and on here, no less!). I'm surprised that this made Slashdot, and even more susprised at some of the reactions that people are having. The Simpsons are an excellent way to teach philosophy; in fact, in my class this semester, quite a few people actually used the Simpsons as topics for the 15-page term paper at the end of the year (things like analysis of the Bart Loses His Soul episode, which really do get philosophical if you bring in some outside sources and philosophers).
If anyone's interested, there's even a book, called The Simpsons and Philosophy - the D'oh! of Homer.
-- K
This sounds like the sort of course that would be offered to people who are just there for the sports.
Everything is mainstream now.
Humm. I think the Simpsons is actually a fairly intelligent show. The humor expressed within the last 4 seasons has been high-brow to say the least. They constantly mock pop culture, as well as classic examples of stupid americans.
;).
And don't forget religion... the writers for the Simpsons are constantly mocking the lame protestant church that the Simpsons and Ned constantly visit. One of my favorite episodes was when Homer finally became smart (after the removal of a crayon from his brain) and in his spare time he proved that God did not exist
The Simposons' have come a long way since the "Don't have a cow man" days.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
I'm currently taking a course called Religions of Star Trek- beat that :) A teaspoon of sugar makes the medicine go down. It's offered at Muhlenberg College. The course description:
Description:
REL 111 Topics in Religion: Religions of Star Trek
This course explores major themes in the study of religion using Star Trek as a primary source, along with more traditional, written texts. Selected excerpts from the original series, the Next Generation series, Deep Space Nine and Voyager will be viewed and discussed. Star Trek will be presented as a media forum for public debate on changing attitudes towards the role of religion in our culture over the past thirty years. It has presented constructions of meaning and value across cultures, highlighting themes fundamental to our understanding of religions. These themes include: the nature of the divine, the role of myth and ritual, evolution in both the spiritual and biological sense, the role of technology in our understanding of religious systems, attitudes toward "other" religions, and the transformative power of religious experience.
Meets general academic requirement R.
"Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes."
-E. W. Dijkstra
Nothing you just said has anything to do with philosophy. Phil isn't about sitting around thinking about the meaning of life and offering your pathetic insights. It is about arguing logically for and against various concepts that have bearing on human existence, roughly.
I don't know what to think of these more "unconventional" classes. I took a "history" class in college on the Beatles. A whole semester!!!
We read books, studied the music, and looked at their impact on popular culture and the path of music development.
I even wrote a term paper on George Harrison's exposure and conversion to eastern philosophy and religion.
I guess the fundamental question on these kinds of classes is: are they just puff puff classes for an "easy A"? Or are they an interesting way to get young people to think about larger philosophical and societal question through subject matter they can really relate to?
I would be interested to see the philosophical context into which the professor inserts the simpsons. what would the reading list be like for this class?
"I think there is a world market for, maybe, five computers." __ IBM Chairman, 1943 __
one of the universities of california (possibly bezerkeley) offered one of these before. and it's really a serious class, about the social implications/messages/etc. of the simpsons. I mean so much of it _is_ soecial commentary. I remember the UC class had students write their own episodes with a particular political theme in mind. very good stuff.
For example, maybe Maggie is just being silent to be silent, or maybe that silence could be interpreted as a social protest.
Or maybe that silence could be interpreted as the desire to avoid drastically changing the formula of one of Fox's cash cows. You think?
For example, maybe Maggie is just being silent to be silent, or maybe that silence could be interpreted as a social protest. Sartre would certainly think so, anyway.
You gonna pass that around or are you just gonna sit there and smoke the whole thing yourself?
There actually is a great book called "The Simpsons and Philosophy" which discusses some elementary philosophical ideas first and gives examples of situations seen on the show. I highly recommend this book to anybody who has seen The Simpsons and who is interested in the topic of philosophy.
I think not.
Therefore, you ARE not. Goodbye.
R. Decartes
...I can't wait for them to teach that!
This actually has a great deal of merit.
Think about it. The Simpsons is arguably one of the most popular shows of all time. Not only is it one of the longest-running shows currently on television, its been one of the most consistently popular shows of all time, across ethnic lines. All during a period of great competition from other networks: other cartoon series have tried and failed to duplicate The Simpson's popularity (King of the Hill and The Family Guy readily spring to mind as competition on the same network.)
Now, remember how the Simpsons developed? They were originally an animated short on The Tracey Ullman Show, produced by a small group of people, not the standard fare of corporate media development. So not only do we have this incredible, remarkable program, but the program developed from a different structure then typical programming.
Now, all of these traits are remarkable individually, but when combined, the show is truly unique and remarkable.
There might be a meaning hidden in those facts that would be worth study from a marketing, sociological, and philosophical point of view.
Here's another story on it from ABCNews.com
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
Also available is SOUTH PARK: A SATIRE OF SOCIETY and SEINFELD AND OTHER COMEDIC EXPRESSIONS.
we now call eurypedes and sophocles GREAT poetry and deep, etc. but it was for entertainment purposes ONLY! although many of the other posts diss the simpsons and philosphy as just being crap and a waste of an education...it is one of the better ways to study pop cultural philosophy as it pertains to us...just as the greeks used their playwrites...how is this any different?
QED
BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
except Notre Dame. That's why they cant field a good football team. God bless the University of Religion.
Shamanic Princess and Cardcaptor Sakura.
U of Oklahoma (ou.edu)
I mistakenly took East Asian History from 6 billion BC to 1800 AD. (I think Rick Moranis was my teacher though! Nothing better than a funny man teaching 5000+ years of history in 3 weeks!)
I admit, The Simposons is a great show (well, around 4 years ago it was great), and has some interesting social satire...
But has the show actually said anything new?
IMO it is a rehash of previous philosophical thought.
IMO a class on a particular work or person in a philosophy department should require that that work/person had something new to say at the time, or created some kind of philosophical ideal.
So The Simpsons contains religious satire. Is that anything new? Could you base a whole philosophy around the show?
I think not.
At the University of Alabama we have both a Star Wars class and a Dukes of Hazard Class. I wouldn't be suprised if we get a Simpsons class added to the catalogue soon.
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.12 GIT d? s: a-- C++++ UL++++ P++ L+++ E- W++ N o-- K- w--- O- M+ V PS+ P
Or maybe she's silent because most babies don't talk?
Unix is user friendly, it's just selective about who its friends are.
In the final for my Western Humanities class the professor used an example from The Simpson to show the role of the family in society...
Homer: Sometimes I think we're the worst family in town
Marge: Maybe we should move to a larger town?
--The Simpsons "Theres no disgrace like home"
Nikkos
so how long have you been teaching the class?
Sorry, but I get more philosophical insight out of a good episode of spongebob squarepants than a simpsons episode.
It's entertainment people! entertainment....
next thing you'll know is people will start worshiping simsontology and hold matt groning as their leader.
The philolsophically interesting thing I see with all this is the correlation to the failing years of the roman empire when the people started studying silly-ass things and focusing on learning socially useless trades.... The parallels in aincent history with today are quite facinating.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
mmmm... steamed hams.
The past few months have been so bizarre on a National level, that they could have come right out of a Simpson's episode. And I love the Simpsons deconstruction of TV news. I remember seeing one day the Simpsons watching TV news and the headline was "wild packs of dogs terrorizing neighborhood." Sure enough, we've had several "real" news stories here about the same exact thing. I live in Portland, OR, where the Simpson characters are named after streets in the NW neighborhood. Too surreal sometimes! Rob.
was when Homer was recalling some earlier event, which started out in Moe's Tavern, and Barney, Lenny, and the rest of the Duff gang "discussing Wittgenstein..."
Anyone remember what episode that was? I don't think Wittgenstein's ever been mentioned on American television aside from that one gag.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
The Simpsons, albeit a cartoon show
:)
I think that this fragment of a quote pretty much sums up the entire point of the class. There always have been, and still are, some philosophers who write philosophical tomes which are quite clearly philosophy. But philosophy presented in the form of entertainment is no less worthy of consideration.
Consider, for example, "Candide" (by Voltaire) or "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence". While they both take the form of a story, each is clearly a philosophical text as well. Likewise texts such as "Gulliver's Travels" and "Catch-22", while more focused on story, also contain plenty of social criticism, which is a form of philosophy.
Considering that "The Simpsons" is far more thoughtful than most of the rest of popular culture, I'm not at all surprised that someone decided to teach a class in it. Whether or not it lasts as part of the philosophical canon after it's off the air remains to be seen. It may not be good enough or philosophical enough to last, but I'm not surprised that it's being recognized in its time.
On a related note, Alan Moore (of "Watchmen" and "From Hell" fame, among other things) taught a class on comic books as literature at The University of California at Berkeley a few years back, and "Watchmen" is on the reading list for one Film/Rhetoric/English class there. This is another example of a "cartoon" that's being taken seriously. It has been known to happen
Actually spongebob squarepants is an amazing show for children. There are some definite lessons in on how to be a good person. However unlike many cartoons its no so obvious to turn kids off once they figure it out.
Plus its just so ridiculous sometimes its easy for an adult to watch as well.
Still what is so wrong with studying the philosphy of current culture?
--- I do not moderate.
Droz: Yes! That's the beauty of college these days, Tommy! You can major in GameBoy if you know how to bullshit!
Many people do a lot of writing about the simps, so why not.
Also, check out
From Davey & Goliath to Homer and Ned. I'll but you didn't expect to find it there.
actually, no. Remember the episode when Lisa is to get married? Even then, when Maggie must be in her late teens, he still doesn't talk. (and yes, they mayke a point of showing that)
Religion and the the Simpsons together. Well, at least no one kills in the name of the Simpsons.
It's Homo Sapiens.
t m
sapiens : (subs.) a wise man, philosopher.
sapiens : wise, judicious
"Sapien" is not the singular version. So both your theory about "Simpson" and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien are wrong.
http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/modern_humans.h
This is not that unusual of a thing really ... Professors need to engage students. Having a class about a subject they are interested in is ceartinily a way to do this ...
At my university, (UC Riverside) there is a course on Star Trek! I think it focuses on ethinc issues or something.
Free Techno/Jazz/DNB/MI Music by guys obsessed with monkeys!
The woman who worked there then proceed to explain to the youngster all about shark mating behaviour. My lady friend and I hardly made it out of there with breath left in our lungs, we laughed so hard.
(Anyone who doesn't understand, watch the whole run of the Simpsons until you hear Homer yelling "ZOOKEEPER! ZOOKEEPER! THOSE MONKEYS ARE KILLING EACH OTHER!")
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
In high school, we studied the Simpsons as an example of satire as a political commentary method in both 10th Grade English and 12th grade Advanced Placement English Lit.
And then the US wonders why the Rest Of The World consider them morons ...
When their academic insitutions hand out degrees based on cartoons and half-baked, dimwitted talkshow hosts.
If this is progress, hand me a pistol now, I`m getting out of here.
Actually, IIRC she is known to the family as quite a chatterbox in that ep. She doesn't speak because someone (Marge?) interrupts her, saying that she is always talking. They make a point of NOT showing her talking. I love the idea of her representing some kind of protest, but it seems more likely just a longplaying gag.
Incidentally, she also talks in the episode where the kids are adopted by the Flanderses, and I _think_ there's a third as well, though I can't put my finger on it at the moment.
"All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
Hey, this is neat: the article says they'll be using "The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the Most Animated Family" as one of the books in the class. I'm a senior in high school and I had a sub in one of my classes who was actually the editor of this book. I saw parts of this book before it was released, and we answered trivia questions from this book about the Simpsons' link to religion. Heh.
In the episode where they show Bart and Lisa as babies who always called Homer "Homer", the last scene is Maggie saying "Daddy".
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
"Getting gay with kids is not dumb, mmmkay?. It just so happens I'm on the board of directors."
Or listen to it
No amount of classes in any topic can make a person begin thinking. The person must want (or need) to start. Typical philosophy classes (and I oughta know, having been a phil major) offer neither impetus.
Hate trolls? Troll 'em back...at home!
Something like this (social commentary) got done by my local paper (I think). They had an interview (quote?) of a woman asking about the debates between Gore/Bush. She said she had no clue who won, but watched SNL (Saturday Night Live) to figure it out. The candidate that got laughed at more was the loser.
So yeah, TV can influence real life, and as we all know the material is what you make of it. Reminds me of Finding Forrester when he says something like, "I hate it when critics talk about 'What did he really mean when he wrote this?'" You can read anything you want into the Simpsons. (And you can, you can always say "That reminds me of that Simpsons when...")
No sig for you.
"Animated Philosophy and Religion," taught by Kimberly Blessing...
Seriously though?
Skiers and Riders -- http://www.snowjournal.com
Literature, philosophy, blah blah blah aren't civics lessons, and they don't put food on the table. They're there to help you appreciate the so-called finer things in life, and, honestly, well-concieved and -executed humor is one of the finer things. So what if there isn't some tangible value? There isn't supposed to be one.
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.
Samurai Jack??!! :)
<DISAPPOINTMENT> oh. </DISAPPOINTMENT>
One of my favorite moments in the Simpsons is Espisode 8F11 where Bart has a microphone that broadcasts over the radio to a gullible Rod and Todd.
While searching for this episode, I ran across an article, "God and The Simpsons: The Religious Life of an Animated Sitcom" by Gerry Bowler, written in 1996.
Why settle for a class, when you can walk around in their house? I saw this story on one of the home improvement shows that run over the weekend. Thanks to Google, here is an article about the people that have actually won the home:
"Simpsons" move to Henderson, Nevada
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine drawn beyond the lines of reason. Push the envelope. Watch it bend.
And as others have mentioned, this is not the first time the Simpson's has been noticed by cultural critics, artists, and other folk with their vision askew just enough to see gems like this.
It's definitely worth a second look :-)!
If anyone's interested, the following is one of the more interesting takes on the magic of the Simpson's and why it's worth paying attention to:
The Steeple & The Gargoyle - Celebrating the Simpsons enjoy :-)
More clearly than anything, it represents a real crisis in North American universities today: people think of them as valuable only insofar as they provide job training and a career boost. Departments like History, English, Religion and Philosophy once used to put undergraduates through serious courses that required them to struggle through real scholarship. They resented it at first, but came away with a substantial understanding of our intellectual roots, and of certain timeless questions, along with history's most elligible answers to those questions.
Fast forward to now, and you'll see core departments struggling to attract students in universities that are increasingly asking the departments to compete with one another for students and funding. The cheapest way to win that competition is not to hire an outstanding faculty, provide your students with individual attention, and make demanding courses which require lots of writing. The cheapest way is to pack a huge lecture hall using provocative course titles. Unfortunately, the students don't complain when the course itself is a half-baked piece of crap, designed primarily to stroke the ego of an aging professor trying to overcome his insecurity that he might no longer be "with it." They don't complain when the exams are on bubble sheets; "electronic grading" is, according to their insecure professor, the new, hip thing. The reason why they don't complain is because they don't know what they're missing. Once one department at a university resorts to this strategy, the other departments must respond in kind. It doesn't take long for things to get all fucked up. I've seen this first hand.
Please, students: if you actually want to learn something in college, do your research on a course before enrolling. Sadly, many of your options today are courses that will amuse you, but leave you just as ignorant as you were when the course began. One warning sign that you might be in for mere amusement is: an overly up-to-date or hip course title and topic.
When I was an undergraduate getting my degree in physics, my most important courses were in philosophy. I had to know Kant and Quine and Nietzche inside out, and there was nothing more intellectually rewarding than that. If you take philosophy classes, take some real ones. Only after that should you consider doing something philosophically frivolous like the Philosophy of the Simpsons.
But by all means, watch the Simpsons! It's about to start in 15 minutes! Spork
I'm a student at Oberlin college and have just finished a class entitled "In search of the badass" other classes offered included:
Femme Fatales,
Chain Maille making,
Anime appreciation,
Foucault, Show Me Your Ass!
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Xena: Warrior Princess and Gabrielle: Battling Bard of Potadeia
Nonsense: the World of Wonderland
The gem of next semester will be "The Big Damn Manly ExCo"
but oberlin is a little flaky.
aaron
The college republicans at my school did program a few months ago on conservative references in the Simpsons and on how Matt Groening is a big conservative. Obviously they were trying to take advantage of the shows popularity to recruit. Unfortunately I missed this, but am still curious what the hell they were talking about. The Simpsons seem pretty liberal to me, considering the issues I've seen the show touch upon. Any ideas?
Heck, some of us were getting the Simpsons for homework back in the 90s....in English classes
U.C. Berkeley Class of 91'
There was also the time which was billed as "Maggies first words" by Fox where she poped out the pacifier and said "Moe".
You clever motherfucker. I tell ya, I never even thought about inserting a bunch of %20s. Heh.
We wave the flag of freedom as we conquer and invade.
Maggie' first word . . .
...
I actually seem to vaguely remember, just might of been,
dodecahedron.
{ I think Lisa was doing flashcards & when they were all 'off camera', Maggie spoke the word.
Please teach us how to do that. This is important.
Also what if we're using windoze?
this has been on slashdot before and i believe it was socialogy not philosphy
When they offer that, then I will be first in line, I might even go buy a bright yellow pickup truck....Lots to delve into. The affects of salt water on silicone, lycra abrasion resistance to sand, opacity of wet lycra, adhesion properties of sunscreen under various conditions, best methods of applying suncreen for maximum protection...
Worst goatse ever.
I notice the trend of colleges going the way of tech institutes, places where people learn job skills. It is with sadness I recognize that the love of learning may be fading, at least in the safety blanket of the U.S. One thing to be careful about when asserting that the introduction of courses like this is akin to colleges competing and not trying to provide truly engaging education is that one can fall into the traditionally labeled "elitist West" mindset that says instructors need to stick with the classics and that people who more than struggle (i.e. learning disabled) with courses should not be provided a class they can relate to and learn from. Simpsons appeals to almost every level of intellect and is thus a fitting course for analysis of contemporary issues. People who already understand the deeper themes to Simpsons episodes may more closely analyze the show thru a course like this, and people who don't get the moreal and political implications of the show will probably have their eyes opened to this "hip and posturing" commentary of history and contemporary life. Many instructors at the post-secondary level can incorporate modern, trendy topics into their classes quite well. Don't laugh, but I took a class with Jon Katz (Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, and the Unabomber) on modern media. It was the same stuff he goes over on Slashdot that we all take for granted, but it was really an eye opener for most students. It is important, I think, to not overlook the value of contemporary topics.
News for Nerds. Stuff that matters.
Interpret that how you will.
Hehe, he actually does try to take roles with artistic merit every once in a while for what it's worth. Even when playing the Buddha in "Little Bhudda" though, he still seemed to be in the character of Bill. I think that probably would've been the case in the movie he was in recently that Raimi made (sorry, forgot the name, some psychic murder-mystery), but he didn't talk much if at all - not much of an opportunity to say "woah."
Bill was Alex Winters.
Writers imply. Readers infer.
One warning sign that you might be in for mere amusement is: an overly up-to-date or hip course title and topic.
You're merely regurgitating the age-old troll of "things were better back then." Also you're mistakenly implying that anyone is going to throw out Descartes 101 for Barney and Moe.
I don't know if this is true everywhere, but I was delighted and enriched by several classes that rejected the stodgery of academia (cheap plug: at the Communication Department, Trinity University, San Antonio!). One course included "the Sitcom and American Culture," which you would probably dismiss as an "amusement course" but introduced students to concepts like countertextual readings and media criticism.
Although Taco might find it amusing to watch your homework, watching ten hours of Cheers and writing a 25-page paper about its reflections on American culture was one of the most vigorous experiences of my undergraduate career.
While you may dismiss Cheers and The Simpsons as fluff, they are important cultural artifacts at least as worthy of study as your Kant and Nietzche. What makes these topics suddenly "worthy?" Shakespeare and Voltaire were the Ally McBeals and Chicken Soup for the Soul of their time, yet we worship their works as sophisticated and transcendent now.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
In the rest of the world the terms "university", "degree" and "graduation" actually mean something :O(
Even in the countries that don't speak English?
Yep, reminds me of that silly comic strip with the
cat (or tiger, whatever). What was that called?
Alvin and something, I think.... What a bunch of
Oh yeah, I remember now, it was called "Calvin and Hobbes."
Pretty funny strip. But, or course, I'm sure there was nothing else there but "entertainment."
What a silly name, though! Can't imagine why he chose that.
Anyways, that'll be the day: when a cartoon has something to do with philosopy. Yeah, right.
"That said, I'd take that class. Have to make sure to watch my homework tonight."
I don't know, the only thing that comes to mind is you turning into the fat Comic Book Guy, CmdrTaco.
This site, snpp.com, is a Simpsons archive full of guides, papers, and all kinds of resources for research if anyone really wants to look into studying this further. The quality and content are solid. I highly recommend it.
Is that people have refrained from a Quote-a-thon
Well I'll start one...
"I'm not a Hero, I just like to punch people in the head" - Nelson Muntz
Burma?
On a related note, Alan Moore (of "Watchmen" and "From Hell" fame, among other things) taught a class on comic books as literature at The University of California at Berkeley a few years back, and "Watchmen" is on the reading list for one Film/Rhetoric/English class [berkeley.edu] there. This is another example of a "cartoon" that's being taken seriously. It has been known to happen :)
I took an "experimental college" (classes taught by anyone who wanted to teach them, once they got their listing approved) class called "Comic Book Culture" all about graphic novels. Best liturature class I've taken in my life. We read not only the Watchmen (which I hated) but both Maus books (pulitzer prize winner, btw) and an incredibly facinating book by Scott McCloud called "Understanding Comics". Plus some more pop culture types, a Cerebus book, and a comic book adaptation of "city of glass". Great class, and I would easily rank it up there with the Greek drama course I took the semester before in terms of valuable insights and applicable knowlege.
Kahuna Burger
You are correct about the Simpsons on Philosphy book, I have leafed through at at a BricknMortar B&N myself. This may be amore appropriate discussion for Kuro5hin, but The Simpsons, or just about anything, can be used to help explain the ideas of Philosophy. This idea is not new either. Winnie the Pooh has been used to explain Philosophy, in Pooh and the Philosophers. Two of my favorite books use Pooh to explain the ideas of Taoism in, The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet (T sounds like a D).
That being said, I think it is rediculous that the poster of this story suggests that using a simple example(I would challenge also that The Simpsons is "simple") makes the subject simple. On the contrary the ideas of Descarte, Sartre, and Hume are very complex, but using a reference from pop culture makes it much easier to understand.
The Simpsons quite often has a "moral" as blatant as Aesop, but sneaks it in using a cynical tone. Homer and Bart's misdeeds are punished in some hilariously twisted way. Good deeds don't often go unpunished either, but that's pretty well acknowledged in the Judeo-Christian tradition, e.g. Job. It does get lots of laughs from organized churches and from Ned Flanders' excessive zeal, but Flanders is prosperous and far happier than anyone living next door to the Simpsons ought to be. And balancing the mockery are some _really_ religious messages, for instance when Bart sells his soul...
On the other hand, considering that the Rev. Lovejoy and Flanders seem to be Protestants, maybe this Catholic college just thinks the mockery is appropriate...
Any show that has Stephen Hawkings as guest star is definitely intelligent enough to be a university class.
I have been a huge Simpsons fan since the beginning and I am still constantly amazed at how almost anything can remind me of a Simpsons episode (including the horrors of 9/11).
To me, the Simpsons ranks with All in the Family, M*A*S*H and I Love Lucy among the best shows of all time. Each show dealt with subjects that went far beyond your average sitcom and delved straight into America culture(i.e. a Cuban Man and an Irish Woman in the ultra-conservative 50's, a racist sexist bigot, realities/horrors of war, etc.).
Shows don't last as long as these shows (including syndication) by accident.
The D'oh of Homer has been on the shelves for quite some time , but does anyone recall what the newer Simpsons philosophy book supplanted? It was the Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff,which references the older(and less funny,IMHO) cartoon in an effort to make some philosophical concepts understandable, mostly ancient Chinese philosophies.(The name kind of gives that away.) I did a quick search on Google and was surprised to find that Piglet is in the required reading in quite a few college courses along with Bart,Homer and Maggie.
The question this raises for me is:Is it really necesary for college level students to have their college courses related to them with cartoon characters? I would think that The D'oh of Homer would be a poor substitute for the Apology or the Collective Dialogues. If Socrates and Plato felt that knowledge could be gained through dialogue then the new philosophy must be "knowledge gained through commercial laden television viewing." I
suppose the upshot of all of this is that we can improve the collective GPA and help out the economy with a bit of increased ad saturation all at the same time.
You still create/edit a file called "hosts" (make sure there's no 3 letter extension) but it lives in a different place.
File content:
0.0.0.0 goatse.cx
File location:
Win95/98/ME - C:\windows\
WinNT/2000/XP - C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\
Reboot to make it take effect.
...will certainly have to be on the syllabus. After the local church sells out to advertising to pay for Homer-induced damages, Lisa becomes a Buddhist. In classic Simpsons style, it dealt smartly yet comically with the family's conflict.
That is, it should be on the syllabus. A parochial school might not approve of an episode that promotes the idea of exploring other religions. On the other hand, the root of it was really about taking a step back and considering what your particular church is doing. When the choir director at my church decided that Mass was just a captive audience for her to show off how loudly she can play a variety of instuments, I looked for another church.
I Love Lucy and The Simpsons.
Oh, what a wonderfully warped wife I have now... ;) In any case, I think they were particularly good choices given the immense influence they've had on our society as well as the reflection of the society itself.
"You can never have too many elephants on your team."
mmmmmm.... forbiden donut
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows - Bart Simpson
She said "Daddy", in the episode titled "Lisa's First Word", after being put to bed, and everyone else leaving. Elizabeth Taylor provided her voice.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
...in my middle school Social Studies class. We studied The Simpsons as an example of a "fad", ie something that would vanish very quickly. Heh. The other pop phenomenon we studied at the same time was "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". One outta two ain't bad, I guess? :)
"Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
First point about people who complain that some things are getting worse: Look, some things are getting worse. I gave you reasons for why I thought things were getting worse. You can't just dismiss them by your observation. I doubt you think that every aspect our world is as good as/better than it was before. My last post made me realize that I'm pretty convinced our universities have taken a turn for the worse.
That's not to say I want to resist the intrusion of popular culture into academia, or that I somehow don't like pop culture. I'll bet my car that you can't beat me in Simpsons trivia. And of course you need to study popular culture in media and communications classes. I also understand you can learn a lot by analyzing popular culture with academic care. In the early 90's my girlfriend published the first academic paper about Hillary Clinton jokes. It was a serious study and it was good.
Philosophy is not cultural studies, however. It is the study of reasoned argument about fundamental questions. Of course, one sometimes sees glimmers of reasoned argument about fundamental questions in popular culture, and the Simpsons has more such glimmers than most sitcoms. Still, there is just as much/little philosophical content as there is fundamental physics content. I hope you would agree that "Physics of the Simpsons" should not make a good GE course at a university that hopes all its students learn physics basics. While we're at it, let's have "Civil Engineering of The Simpsons," or how about "Accounting of The Simpsons." I guess I see "Philosophy of the Simpsons" as being equally misguided. If it doesn't seem that way to you, that might be because you never read a book by Kant or Quine.
You say I was "mistakenly implying that anyone is going to throw out Descartes 101 for Barney and Moe" but later go on to say "they are important cultural artifacts at least as worthy of study as your Kant and Nietzche." So it seems you would be comfortable with replacing the greats with pop shows, and that's exactly what I'm not comfortable with.
I worry that what underlies the attitude that "The Philosophy of The Simpsons" makes a fitting course for a university is the belief that philosophy courses aren't really about anything anyway, so we might as well dress them up with The Simpsons. This attitude dissolves very quickly when one reads a book by Hume or Russell, but too few people bother to do so.
It's gotten so bad, in fact, that when the major controversy about patenting programs came out, I did my own (refresher) research on the topic. I ended up at Project Gutenburg reading a monogram on the nature of property. (Direct link not provided to comply with their linkage policy. Search for the author: Proudhon)
Now, I don't take your opinion too seriously if you don't get off your duff and educate yourself about the issue. (Though here, that's mainly a anti-troll thing.) Oh, the evils I propegate all due those horrid years in that stuffy classroom.
Do you like Japanese imports?
"Easier to understand..."
Okay,so if I wanted to explain the writings of Nietche or B. Russel to my children,which I intend to, then I would no doubt,use a cartoon show as some kind of context for them.However,after they have graduated from highschool and been accepted to a university I would expect that they had learned something about reading for comprehension! It is "rediculous(sic)" to pose philosophical thought to ADULTS in such a manner. I recognize the fact that the curriculum in most American classrooms has been dumbed down, but this goes too far into the realm of the too-stupid-to-be-real. What is the next step into our descent into irretrievable stupidity? Tinkie Winkie's Take on Soc 101? Hell,why not give them what they can really understand...use pr0n to teach Phys Bio(what self-respecting college student doesn't understand that?) or better yet,Phys Ed.We can throw all of the rest of the curriculum,and turn out a generation of Gym teachers who think that Wittgenstein is a German lager and Heraclitus is a V.D.
Back in my foolish high school days, I was looking at MIT. They have a phys ed requirement, with things like bowling, fencing, etc. Pretty cool!
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
My god, you're right. Ted it is then.
Well, since you brought this up....
The plot of "The Matrix" clearly makes many references to one of the greatest works of philosopy ever -- Plato's _Republic_, specifically the allegory of the cave.
So I guess that the plot of The Matrix postulates not that the philosophers should be kings, but rather that hackers should be kings....
In the adoption episode, she says something to the effect of "daddily-doodily". I think this is supposed to be normal baby babble to mock Ned's odd speaking style, not really to have Maggie talk.
BigCat79
"The dead have risen and are voting Republican!" --Bart Simpson
I have to say that I completely agree that the concept of a class that teaches philosophy with The Simpsons exclusively is a sham and a sign of the degenerating University system in the United States. However, I must disagree and say that I believe there IS a place for studying something like The Simpsons or Star Trek if not simply for the clear application of some philosophical theories discussed by philosophers since the dawn of man. This might bridge the gap for a number of substandard college students.
The question, imho, comes down to the purpose and intent of the university system. If the intent is simply to weed out the good from the bad and reward the good with a degree, then yeah... The Simpsons shouldn't be philosophically studied. However, if the goal is to enlighten society, sometimes unusual methods are necessary to bridge the gap between difficult material and how it might apply to one's own life. Having taken several courses in philosophy, I enjoy using Star Trek and The Simpsons (among others) to spring board into conversations about material that does seem to question the fabric our modern culture and societies has decided holds the universe together. The Simpsons is particularly useful when I watch it with my girlfriend. Ordinarily, she isn't one to discuss philosophical ideas, but after a round of The Simpsons, shes ready to chat and usually makes some pretty good arguements that relate to research and reading that she's done in the past.
Summary: A course title on its own is not enough to judge. Unfortunately, I suspect the type of drivel that you describe. As you said, though, my recommended course direction would be to take some "real" philosophy courses first and follow with some of the ones like, "The Simpsons of the Modern Era".
Andrew 'Mickey Knox' Gearhart
After spending a semester as an engineer, I changed my Major to religion and eventually transferred to Siena Heights University, the topic of this discussion. When I first saw the posting of this class, I was like, "what?!?!!?!?" but I took it all tongue in cheek, figuring why not, it's something interesting that will pull students into Philosophy.
Irregardless, I have to say that Lacey (the Bio major) is perhaps one of the most intelligent people I know (directed at FFFish, who called her a lackey), who actually founded the Philosophy Club at SHU this year. And the class WILL NOT be some blow off class, trust me when I say Dr. Blessing does not create easy blow off classes. I've heard people say they'd rather not graduate than take one of her classes, too much work.
Read my post again.
"Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.