This summer, television series Game of Thrones joined the likes of Harry Potter, Mad Men, and 50 Shades of Grey on the ever-growing list of pop culture trends featured in university classes. I guess the only way to get the modern student interested is to pander to their immature interests.

Jennifer Kabbany at The College Fix has the story:

‘Game of Thrones’ Course Taught at University of Virginia

It was only a matter of time.

The University of Virginia offered a “Game of Thrones” English course this summer, a four-week seminar that divided its focus between the novels and popular HBO television series.

“One of the greatest lessons of ‘Game of Thrones,’ the class argues, is how life goes on after death,” according to a university press release describing the 24-student class.

Thankfully students have Game of Thrones to teach them such concepts!

“One of the goals behind this class was to teach students how the skills that we use to study literature are very useful skills for reading literature and TV in conjunction,” stated Lisa Woolfork, the associate professor of English who taught the class. “ ‘Game of Thrones’ is popular, it’s interesting, but it’s also very serious. There are a lot of things in the series that are very weighty, and very meaningful, and can be illuminated through the skills of literary analysis.”