NYU's Occupy Wall Street class: The wisecracks

The notoriously pricey Manhattan university will offer two courses on the anti-capitalist movement next fall

Occupy Wall Street is spreading outside of Zuccotti Park: The anti-bank movement will occupy classrooms at NYU next fall, thanks to two courses focused on the grassroots protest.
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Occupy the classroom? Starting next fall, New York University will offer two courses centered around the Occupy Wall Street movement. One, offered through the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, will focus on the history and politics of the movement, while another will be a graduate-level seminar. The downtown Manhattan college, just a few subway stops from Zuccotti Park, will also reportedly host guest speakers who are actually occupying Wall Street. But many bloggers are snarkily doubtful that NYU's students, who shell out more than $56,000 a year to attend the college, really need a lesson on the anti-bank movement. Here, some of the best jokes:

Create a diversion

Maybe NYU is trying to "keep their students in class making use of their student loans," says Julia A. Seymour at Media Research Center, "rather than camped out in Zuccotti Park... complaining about them."

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How the other 99 percent lives

Only undergraduates from rich families can afford to attend NYU, says Adrianne Jeffries at The New York Observer. But thanks to this class, those students' parents "can be assured their bright young things are still getting The People's Education." Now, "the one percent may study the 99."

Higher learning

Imagine the syllabus, says Weasel Zippers. "Lesson #1: How to sh*t on a cop car and not get doody on your pants."

Planning for the future

"This class is perfect for NYU kids," says John Del Signore at Gothamist. "Now they'll learn how to help their parents survive in Occupy Wall Street tent cities after they lose their homes in an avalanche of NYU tuition debt."

A new champ

This is now the most ridiculous class offered by a prestigious university, says Joe Coscarelli at New York. Sorry, Yale. Your clubbing class, "Dance Music and Nightlife," no longer makes the grade.

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