Just wanted to share a bit of good news. After a certain amount of wheedling and a touch of groveling, I convinced the Powers That Be at my school (I teach at a community college in western NC) to approve my request to teach a four-week, non-credit course next term centering on morality in BtVS.

They're bemused and at least one thinks she's given me the rope to hang myself with, because "will people come to something like that"? Being gently reared, I refrained from cackling harshly. Oh, yeah - they'll come. At least in the friendly, wondrous world that exists inside my head. Reality is often SO different! (sigh)

But here's hoping. I'll be happy (make that thrilled) to provide more details, should anyone want them.

And Happy 'Versary Day to all Browncoats!

Mockingbird - more proselytizing (sp???) can only be good thing! Congratulations on assisting Joss to make one more step toward his goal of total world domination! Sadly I won't get to your course - the whole commuting-from-Western-Australia-thingee might get in the way a bit.

I am still trying to persuade my boss to let me do the same but considering I train people to work with people with disabilities and in aged care, my boss is just not *getting* the connection. Honestly, the nerve of some people!

Still, good luck with it all! Let us know what the turn out is like!

Give us some more details and we will get the word out and stun the TPTB at your school on how much verse support there is for this kind of thing. Perhaps it would encourage others.

See, it's at moments like this (so VERY rare though they be) that I wish I was even remotely likely to go back to school. Alas, however, here's me and here is the life of a student and never, ever the twain shall meet.

A hearty congratulations though, Mockingbird. Good luck with it and please keep us updated. I'd love to know more about your course/curriculum.

Oh my! I would love to know more about your class. I would love to hear reactions and comments and everything!

I might even be interested in a syllabus or something to take a look at the material you plan on discussing myself!

Good Luck, and Way to Go!

I love my fandom!

Thanks for the positive feedback and support! I've spent some time putting together the outline (the problem with this sort of thing is figuring out what you HAVE to include versus what you just really, really WANT to include!) and it looks like I'll cover four topics (four-week course, don't you know). Each week will focus on one episode followed by structured discussion and I'm trying to make it appeal to those who already know the show without cutting out the curious who haven't seen it before. So there's a "cheat sheet" for character relationships. (Creating THAT took a while, I can tell you!)

Anyway, with thanks to both Rhonda Wilcox (who led an amazing workshop on "The Body") and MissKittysMom (who has some great material, albeit for a much longer course), I think it'll be something like this. Week One - personal sacrifice ("Prophecy Girl" from S1); Week Two - consequences for past actions ("Consequences" from S2); Week Three - redemption ("Who Are You?" from S4); and Week Four - dealing with loss ("The Body" from S5).

That's on Tuesdays (when else would you hold a Buffy class??), starting on Jan. 16, 2007 from 6 - 8 pm at Cleveland Community College (the one in NC, not the one in Ohio with the Hellmouth!)

Now let's see if I can pull it off.

Sorry - my typo. "Consequences" is in Season THREE, not two.

And thanks for posting a link to whedonesque.com! I wanted the class to get some exposure and that should certainly do it . . .

I'm always excited every time I hear about another Buffy course! Congratulations on getting this one on the books. I'm sure we all look forward to hearing about how it goes next year.

Thanks so much for all the well wishes and support on this endeavor! I'm getting excited about teaching the course and it's still months off! Being linked over on whedonesque.com was a nice thrill, too - plenty of people have been reading about this (hopefully a few either live in western NC and will take the course or have friends who do and they'll encourage them to come), both here and over there. I wasn't able to register with whedonesque.com, so I couldn't reply to the comments there, but a couple of things bear mentioning:

1. Webcasting is an interesting idea, and I don't think the school would object, provided that this "shakedown cruise" of the course goes well. If I can show the need for it, it could happen. It's something to think about, anyway.
2. The class will watch one ep a week in class - without commercial breaks, an ep is only 44 mintues long and the class is scheduled for 2 hours, which leaves ample time for a coffee break and discussion. BtVS as "homework" is interesting, but didn't work for me. First off, it's a non-credit course - I can't realistically expect people to do homework and I hope to get some people who don't know the show already - they won't have the box sets. Also, there's something about seeing the show in a group, as opposed to seeing it at home alone. Think of the difference between seeing Serenity in a theatre with like-minded people (or not like-minded people), seeing everything happen at the same time as the people around you; and seeing it at home.
3. Sure, this is worth doing. I don't think guided analysis sucks the joy from the show. Of course, some people disagree with me and they have that right. Heck, if we can't have differences of opinion here, where can we? But I'll go on my merry teaching way nevertheless.

Sorry for the length. Blame the coffee.

The class is moving forward! The local paper's picked up on the idea and, while I disagree with the title (I certainly don't have all access to all knowledge), hey! any publicity is good publicity, right? And it does give a bit of background in terms of the what and why of the class.

http://www.shelbystar.com/story.php?ID=18859

Thanks for all the well wishes and support as Buffy hits the classroom in western North Carolina! And if you're in the area - it's a lovely drive to Shelby!