Charles Mullin
Staff Reporter
To the dismay of many students, South Park and Contemporary Social Issues, a Sophomore Interdisciplinary Study class, will not be returning next semester to McDaniel. For some, the topic of South Park may not warrant serious reactions, but the course has proven that it can address social problems such as race, gender, gay marriage, and consumerism with depth and engagement that promotes student understanding.
“I think [the class] is very interesting,” said sophomore Lisa Vasapollo. “There have been times where I have disagreed with what they’ve said, but I still feel comfortable saying that in class.”
The South Park course began in the spring of 2009 and has been taught since by Dr. Josh Baron, philosophy adjunct, and Dr. Sara Raley, sociology professor. Both professors felt there was a need to bring the controversial and humorous show to a better light even before the South Park course was started.
“I would use South Park episodes in my Sociology classes,” said Dr. Raley. Dr. Baron realized South Park’s relevancy to academia when the show first confronted the Terri Schavo case.
The course objectives put emphasis on turning these comedic episodes into an opportunity to analyze social issues in the contemporary world. By using both a sociology professor and a philosophy professor, the South Park and Contemporary Social Issues course offers a multitude of principles and theories on social problems. Students are encouraged to look at historical and contemporary texts from both fields of study in order to get a grasp on the course objectives.
Since the course uses South Park as a medium to demonstrate social problems and possible solutions, the class could be seen from a Communication perspective as well. When asked about his opinion on the class, Communication professor, Dr. Jonathan Slade said, “Any class that introduces students to media literacy is essential.”
The head of the Communication department, Dr. Deborah Vance, actually guest-lectured in the South Park SIS last fall semester on how audiences contribute to the meaning of a media text.
“Matt, Trey, and Comedy Central are all part of the same culture we are, so they are using symbols we understand,” said Dr. Vance, “We, the audience, are in a conversation with them, the creators of the program.”
Dr. Vance believes it is important for academia to pay attention to the media and television. The fact that the South Park SIS is doing just that is encouraging.
“TV is a powerful force in our culture and too often it’s considered ‘just entertainment’ and therefore not worth studying, which is a wrong-headed approach to such a significant part of our lives,” said Dr. Vance. “And a satire like South Park is particularly worth looking at because satire and humor play a specific role in our culture — in many cultures — of questioning and sniping at the power structure.”
Dr. Raley fears that despite the rigorous academic issues, students and parents don’t take the class seriously because of the medium it uses.
“People wouldn’t question the legitimacy of other classes like they do of South Park,” she stated, “The faculty has been very supportive though.”
Even with many of the faculty’s support and a story in McDaniel news, the course’s future is still uncertain. The SIS program, in terms of courses offered, does not hold as much importance over departmental classes. This push has caused Dr. Baron and Dr. Raley to have to teach more courses in their own departments.
However, this isn’t the first time SIS courses have not been offered for a subsequent semester. In fact, many SIS courses are only offered once a year or every other year. The South Park SIS was given a rare chance to be taught more than one semester in a row.
Dr. Baron believes the course should still be taught.
“I feel like there is a student demand, but there are a number of variables for whether a class is taught,” said Dr. Baron. “Some of them we understand and some of them we don’t.”
It seems that money, departmental needs, and curriculum requirements supersede any Sophomore Interdisciplinary Studies course, but this isn’t the first time the future of the class has been uncertain.
Last year, Dr. Baron didn’t even think they would be teaching the class again because of scheduling and departmental difficulties.
“After the last time we taught it,” said Dr. Baron. “We thought it would be the last.”
When asked about the SIS program itself, Dr. Baron praised the opportunities it gave students at McDaniel College.
“I think the SIS program is one of the most exciting and enriching programs at McDaniel,” said Dr. Baron.
“The experience of teaching this course has made me frustrated with bureaucracy,” Dr. Raley said, “But the folks who head the SIS program really want us to teach the course as often as possible.”
The South Park course may be gone next semester, but it still has made a huge impact on both the professors and the students who participated in its inclusion into the SIS program.
“I think it has helped legitimize meeting students’ interest with a challenging academic workload,” said Dr. Baron.
“It’s a good class,” said sophomore Pat Callahan,“I’m learning a lot. They teach good philosophy and sociology.”
What is the future for the South Park SIS course? As Dr. Baron is an adjunct philosophy professor, he might be teaching at another college.
“I want to teach more so I contacted Towson about teaching for their philosophy department,” said Dr. Baron, “I will try to bring the South Park course there. Dr. Raley and I have put so much work into the class that I think it would be extremely valuable. It would be odd to teach it with someone other than Dr. Raley though.”
Dr. Raley wants to continue to teach the South Park class if the opportunity arises again, but is also uncertain if she would if Dr. Baron left McDaniel.
“I would have trouble teaching the philosophy part by myself,” she said.
Students will miss the South Park and Contemporary Social Issues SIS course next semester.
“This class is the sort of class I always pictured college would be,” sophomore Jesse Orshan said, “McDaniel needs more classes like this.”
