Study comic books at CU, 'imagine' work at DU

Traditionally, summer school has afforded undergraduates the opportunity to catch up or get a leg up on core requirements at a quick clip. But this summer at Colorado's premier colleges, students are enjoying seemingly less academic endeavors, including courses on comic books as literature and paranormal activity as it relates to pop culture.

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As reported by the Daily Camera, 15 visiting professors from around the country are spending the summer teaching at the University of Colorado's Boulder campus. The classes they teach are as diverse as their backgrounds.

Benjamin Stevens from Bard College in New York is teaching a humanities course entitled, "Reading Comics: An Introduction to Comics as Literature."

Stevens' course description reads, "What are 'comics,' and what does it mean to 'read' them? In this course we study comics as a kind of literature and explore ways of doing literary studies."

Fellow visiting professor Jeffrey J. Kripal, a philosophy and religious thought professor from Rice University, is teaching "The Paranormal and Popular Culture." The religious studies course is approved to satisfy requirements of the arts and sciences core curriculum.

(And there's no better place to teach such a class than in Boulder, home to the famous "Mork and Mindy" house.)

The course description reads: "Topics include cultural histories of telepathy, teleportation, and UFOs, to the occult dimensions of science fiction, cold war psychic espionage, and the fantasy of galactic colonialism. These mythical themes and paranormal currents will work together to provide a striking new vision of science fiction and superhero comics as the wellspring of an evolving new mysticism of science."

A comparison with one of Colorado's largest private universities shows creative summer classes aren't limited to Boulder. The University of Denver's summer schedule is heavy on traditional academic topics, but there are a few outliers: Students may elect for a 4-credit course in "discovering creative energies," though after reading the class description we're not sure it's worth $1752 in tuition.

CU students may study UFO's and comic books, but the award for most ironic course title goes to: "Work in the Popular Imagination," offered at DU's Women's College.

In related news, Gov. Bill Ritter is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at a state education meeting tomorrow. The topic: "Workforce Readiness."