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Category: Television

Harvard goes down to 'The Wire'

When I first heard that Harvard will be teaching a class on the seminal HBO drama "The Wire," I thought it was gimmick.

Why would one of the most esteemed universities in the country be teaching a class on a TV show in order to deconstruct the impact of poverty in urban America?

But after discussing the topic with a friend, she pointed out that some people don't understand subjects that are foreign to them unless they see it on TV first.

Oddly enough that makes sense to me.

And if it takes one of the best shows to ever air on television to convey the social and cultural implications of poverty and drugs, so be it.

Harvard isn't the first school to use "The Wire" as a teaching tool.

Duke University and Middlebury College have done the same in the past.