Learn The Science Of Batman For College Credit
This article is more than 2 years old
Last year was a hectic one for me, full of housing sales, turning 30, and an infant-turned-toddler. So going to college in Canada wasn’t exactly at the forefront of my brain. However, hindsight is 20/20, and I never have my glasses when I need them.
Had I known that the University of Victoria in British Columbia was hosting a course called “The Science of Batman,” chances are I would have dashed off into the night, leaving my wife, child, and house behind — not for a really long time or anything. Just until the course is done, and my life has truly been enriched. I exaggerate, of course, but this is the kind of education that I both embrace and question. I mean, why would Batman let his science secrets slip out like that, after so many years of hiding them?
The course is being given through the university’s School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, and sadly isn’t really about Batman’s gadgets or how to power-glide. Rather, it focuses on what Bruce Wayne would have to do in order to keep up Batman’s peak physical villain-bashing performance. Since we already know the financial side of being the Caped Crusader, it only makes sense to find out what getting constantly pummeled and dropped from high places will do to a person’s body. Below is the actual course description.
The extreme range of adaptability of the human body explored through the life of the Caped Crusader; examines human potential using Batman as a metaphor for the ultimate in human conditioning; evaluates the concepts of adaptation to exercise and injury from the perspective of science and exercise training; examines the multiple sciences behind exercise adaptation, musculoskeletal injury and concussion, and limitations of the human body and mind.
I have a feeling the amount of testosterone in that class space is cowl-melting. Here’s hoping they start up a creative writing portion where students get to imagine what Batman’s life in college would have been like.
