Students of Rice University: run, don't walk, to your nearest registrar's office and enroll in ENGL 312 "Scandinavian Fantasy Worlds: Old Norse Sagas and Skyrim" at once.

"This course has two goals. First, it introduces students to fantasy as both psychological concept and driving force in gamer culture; and second, using these paradigms, it considers how and why medieval Scandinavia serves as a locus of modern Anglo-American fantasy. To these ends, students will read selections from Old Norse and Old Icelandic sagas (in translation) as they play different quests within Skyrim.



"While the course begins by identifying moments of intersection between the worlds of the sagas and of Skyrim (inclement environments, supernatural figures, mythologies), the course is not in any means meant to map the former onto the latter. The purpose of establishing these connections is to then consider how elements of medieval Scandinavian culture have been taken out of historical milieu and literary context, morphed into unfamiliar shape, and appropriated towards other fantastic pursuits.



"We'll consider the political saga of Skyrim, with its emphasis on Empire and rebellion, as pursuits made possible by way of Scandinavia in order to think through what Scandinavian fantasy worlds are really about and why they resonate with contemporary Anglo-American culture."

That's right; Rice English professor Donna Beth Ellard is offering a seminar course on how The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a microcosm of American pop culture's obsession with Norse mythology.Here's the entire (surprisingly legit) course description:Sign us up! If you study one game in a college class, what would it be? Let us know in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN