Cool Class: Critical Approaches to Humanities
Welcome to the Whedonverse.
That was the introduction my professor gave to my humanities class two weeks ago. Professor Lisa Perdigao, Ph.D. told us we’d learn all about the works of Joss Whedon this summer semester, where we’d watch shows and movies and critically analyze them.
Why? Because, why not?
The class is turning out to be incredibly fun as well as enriching. I never even knew that I could analyze a tv show and figure out deeper meanings behind everything and why it exists. I never have given thought to why tv shows exist in the first place. Obviously, to entertain is one reason why. But there are tons of scholars out there that critically analyze these shows and write papers on them.
There’s even a Joss Whedon academic journal, called Slayage, that has tons of academic works written on his projects.
We spent the first two weeks watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and talking about it, and there was an essay to write on it as well. Then we focused on Firefly and the movie Serenity, and next week we’ll be watching Dollhouse and then the Avengers.
It’s really weird to think that it’s possible to take a class that just watches tv shows, but I’m actually learning a lot about film, shots, and the deeper meanings behind everything. A lot of works are also connected to past stories like Shakespeare and Greek mythology, so we get to learn about those stories as well.
It’s also affecting the way I watch and consume media, because I’m giving thought to it instead of just mindlessly watching shows. I definitely recommend taking a class with Professor Perdigao!
