Chicago's Roosevelt University offers "Occupy Everywhere" course

Roosevelt's Loop campus, October 10, 2010

One of my teachers at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Illinois, Donald Steinhardt, once confided in class that he almost wasn't hired there because his alma mater, Roosevelt University, "was a little pink," in the words of a school board member. Pink as in pinko, meaning communist.

Well it was a lot pink--and apparently it still is. Although I'm glad Consolidated School District 230 offered him the job--he was one of the best teachers I had.

The Chicago Loop campus of Roosevelt, home of "Progressive Learning," which ironically is across the street from the spot in Grant Park where Occupy Chicago failed to set up a tent city, will be offering an Occupy class this semester.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Thirty-two undergrads are enrolled this semester in "Occupy Everywhere," a three credit political science course offered at Roosevelt University that takes a look at the movement and the issue of social inequality in the United States.

"I study social movements and this was something unfolding right in front of us," said Jeff Edwards, who is teaching the class. "We can take advantage of being in Chicago."

Last fall, Edwards watched Occupy Chicago's General Assembly gather outside his classroom to meet in Grant Park. The idea for the course was born, though he first wanted to make sure the movement had some staying power.

Students will read the Occupy Gazette, the movement's newspaper, and attend General Assembly meetings. Occupy Chicago leaders may present guest lectures.

New York University (NYU) is also offering an Occupy course. And for a brief spell, Columbia University was planning an Occupy movement class but administrators evicted the idea. The Ivy League school isn't as progressive as Roosevelt or NYU, I guess.

The Roosevelt course ends just before the G8/NATO summits in Chicago. The Sun-Times says students aren't required to join the leftist movement, but two admitted occupiers have signed up for Occupy Everywhere.

I can't think of a goofier way to waste student loan money. The higher education bubble continues to be strained.

Oh, Professor Edwards: I'd like to be one of your guest lecturers. If he's still alive, Donald Steinhardt will vouch for me. Among the topics in his class at Sandburg was--and I'm not making this up--Theater of the Absurd.

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