A Louisiana college is offering a film class about Anthony Bourdain’s shows, and what a treat
A professor at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana is offering a class on Anthony Bourdain this spring, and what a brilliant idea. Bourdain’s various television series transcended the “travel-food show” model, feeling more like empathetic documentaries that introduced viewers to people, experiences, and locales not typically documented on film. The class—titled “Anthony Bourdain and His Influencers”—is a combination film studies and literature course, and it will focus specifically on Bourdain’s three television series (A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations, and Parts Unknown) and the films or pieces of literature that inspired him.
Just spent a whole day planning themes/ideas/material. This course is going to be a whopper of work for me. The more I unravel what I want to do, the more complex I find @Bourdain 's work to be.
— Todd Kennedy (@NSUFilmStudies) September 23, 2018
Each class will feature an episode of Bourdain’s show paired with a companion piece, i.e. a book or film that may have influenced it. The official catalog description of the course reads as follows:
"Almost every episode of Bourdain’s shows directly reference and/or pay homage to a major work of literature or film as he develops his own visual and narrative argument about culture, politics, food, art, and the interactions therein. This course will pair Bourdain’s work with the writings and films that influenced him, connecting ways of understanding the world around us through the lens of a transformative writer and public figure."
So, this just happened. https://t.co/q3Gp88x2TS
— Todd Kennedy (@NSUFilmStudies) September 28, 2018
The spring 2019 class is already such a hit that graduates are ready to re-enroll. false
We especially love this one Twitter user who summed up Bourdain’s influence beautifully.
I read this and thought, yes, this is right. I hope his daughter grows up knowing that her Dad was a teacher. He taught us that at the end of the day, all of humanity is the same. What a gift he was to our world. Ariane, thank you for sharing him with us.https://t.co/RydkeHnxw2
— FRAreimagine (@frma_com) September 29, 2018
How lucky to be an undergrad in Louisiana this spring.
