Fan Fest News

News for Fans, By Fans!

Harvard University to Offer ‘Game of Thrones’ Themed History Course

Are you a Game of Thrones super fan?  Do you wish you could take an entire course on the history of the stories told within the novels and TV show?  Well, pretty soon, you might have the opportunity to “drink and know things,” of historical value!

TIME has revealed that, this fall, Harvard University will be offering an actual course in which students can learn about the real medieval history which was used as the inspiration for the series.  The history course will be called, “The Real Game of Thrones: From Modern Myths to Medieval Models.”  Sounds pretty cool, right?

The course will look at the way Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin calls upon real events or real people in history in order to formulate the harrowing plot lines and action packed sequences we have come to know and love from the world of Westeros.

According to the course description provided to TIME, the course will take an in depth look into how the series/books “echoes and adapts, as well as distorts the history and culture of the ‘medieval world’ of Eurasia from c. 400 to 1500 CE” by exploring ” a set of archetypal characters at the heart of Game of Thrones — the king, the good wife, the second son, the adventurer, and so on — with distinct analogues in medieval history, literature, religion, and legend.” The course will be co-taught by Sean Gilsdorf, a medieval historian and Administrative Director and Lecturer on Medieval Studies and Racha Kirakosian, an assistant professor of German and the Study of Religion.

The teaching pair would like for the course to be taught at the introductory level in hopes of using it as a recruitment tool.  They feel that, relating true historic events of medieval studies to the pop culture phenomenon that is Game of Thrones, could help spark an interest from the students in fields such as medieval studies and humanities, which typically see fewer enrollments.

What do you think of a history course based on Game of Thrones?  Would you sign up for this class?  Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

Harvard University to Offer 'Game of Thrones' Themed History Course

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *