--- title: Game of Thrones' Course for Book Readers Only Now Offered description: Students at the University of British Columbia are now being offered a course focused on Game of Thrones. canonical: https://time.com/4089712/university-of-british-columbia-offering-game-of-thrones-course-exclusively-for-book-readers/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-27T22:16:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:00.206Z og:title: This University Is Offering A 'Game of Thrones' Course Exclusively for Book Readers og:description: The class is long and full of terrors og:url: https://time.com/4089712/university-of-british-columbia-offering-game-of-thrones-course-exclusively-for-book-readers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt986ca653af934ae8/69886e6ecf40a8f239c40606/game-of-thrones.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Game of Thrones og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This University Is Offering A 'Game of Thrones' Course Exclusively for Book Readers twitter:description: The class is long and full of terrors twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt986ca653af934ae8/69886e6ecf40a8f239c40606/game-of-thrones.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This University Is Offering A _Game of Thrones_ Course Exclusively for Book Readers ## Video: 'Thrones' Catching Up With Book Plot Means Spoilers For All [Watch (HLS stream): 'Thrones' Catching Up With Book Plot Means Spoilers For All](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/j83INjRk.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2015-06-16. The day_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 27, 2015 10:16 PM UTC  The cover of A Dance with Dragons is pictured. The cover of A Dance with Dragons is pictured.Bantam Spectra  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 27, 2015 10:16 PM UTC Students at the University of British Columbia are now being offered a course focused on _Game of Thrones_. But in a twist almost as merciless as the Red Wedding itself, only those who have read the books will be allowed to enroll in the class, rather than fans who have exclusively experienced the world of Westeros through the show. “The course will involve the reading of the five books (thus far) of the series, and the watching of the five season of the HBO series. Please make sure you’ve read these **BEFORE** the course begins, as it will problematic to try to catch up if you have not done so,” [the syllabus](http://www.english.ubc.ca/courses/winter2015/490-011.htm) reads. The spring 2016 class is titled “Our Modern Medieval: The _Song of Ice and Fire_ as contemporary Medievalism.” It will be taught by [associate professor Robert Rouse](http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/rrouse/http%5F%5F%5Ffaculty.arts.ubc.ca%5Frrouse%5F/About%5FMe.html) and will allow students to study medieval history by way of the George R.R. Martin series. “The course will take the works of George R. R. Martin as the central text for an investigation of how the medieval is reimagined in our current moment…Martin’s works hold an influential place in the popular modern imagined medieval, largely supplanting any real notion of the European Middle Ages in the minds of most of its readers and viewers. As such, we will be considering Martin’s works as much for what they tell us about our own moment, as for what they tell us about our ideas of the past,” Rouse wrote. The university should’ve just hired the “[shame nun](http://shamenun.com)” to drive all non-book readers away. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4089712/university-of-british-columbia-offering-game-of-thrones-course-exclusively-for-book-readers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4089712/university-of-british-columbia-offering-game-of-thrones-course-exclusively-for-book-readers/"},"headline":"This University Is Offering A Game of Thrones Course Exclusively for Book Readers","datePublished":"2015-10-27T22:16:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:00.206Z","description":"The class is long and full of terrors","url":"https://time.com/4089712/university-of-british-columbia-offering-game-of-thrones-course-exclusively-for-book-readers/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","College","game of thrones","Books","TV","George R.R. 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