Television viewing is moving from the sofa to the classroom as students at a British university are offered the chance to study the US drama The Wire.
The University of York has revealed it will offer a 10-week module in the cop show as part of its sociology degree.
The HBO series, which is set in Baltimore and follows the fortunes of drug dealers and police officers, has attracted a host of dedicated followers, including Barack Obama.
But now final year students will examine issues like race, class, political process and the city in the module entitled: "The Wire as Social Science Fiction?"
Professor Roger Burrows, head of sociology at the university, said: "We look at The Wire as a form of entertainment that does the job some of the social sciences have been failing to do.
"It's a contrast to dry, dull, hugely expensive studies that people carry out on the same issues."
He hopes the new course will challenge the traditional methods of teaching social science.
He added: "It's easier to get students to use The Wire as a way of looking at the current political system than it is to get them to read a dull book on it."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100516/ten-down-to-the-wire-students-to-study-u-8a3eada.html
The University of York has revealed it will offer a 10-week module in the cop show as part of its sociology degree.
The HBO series, which is set in Baltimore and follows the fortunes of drug dealers and police officers, has attracted a host of dedicated followers, including Barack Obama.
But now final year students will examine issues like race, class, political process and the city in the module entitled: "The Wire as Social Science Fiction?"
Professor Roger Burrows, head of sociology at the university, said: "We look at The Wire as a form of entertainment that does the job some of the social sciences have been failing to do.
"It's a contrast to dry, dull, hugely expensive studies that people carry out on the same issues."
He hopes the new course will challenge the traditional methods of teaching social science.
He added: "It's easier to get students to use The Wire as a way of looking at the current political system than it is to get them to read a dull book on it."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100516/ten-down-to-the-wire-students-to-study-u-8a3eada.html