Starting next semester, students will be able to take a class based on the popular BBC television series, “Doctor Who.”

Although the class is not offered through Syracuse University, it will be taught by Anthony Rotolo, the director of the online masters in communications program at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Rotolo said the course will study the history and the significance of the British series, which has been one of the longest running science-fiction series in history.

The show follows a time-traveler called the “Doctor” and his companion in his spaceship. In the show, which is currently in its 12th season, the Doctor regenerates every time he dies.

The course, which has a set curriculum, is available for any SU student in any college to take as an independent study class, and students can petition to have the class count toward their degree.

Rotolo added that because of a worldwide interest in the class, the course will also be opened as a Massive Open Online Course, and the same content that is available to the students who attend the class in person will be available and free online for anyone in the world.

“We’ve had registrations from the UK, Portugal, all around North America — those are just off the top of my head,” Rotolo said. “It’s overwhelming, but it’s excellent.”

There were approximately 100 students listed to take the class roughly 24 hours after Rotolo opened registration Oct. 26 through his website. In the first 48 hours that registration was open, the number increased to 350 people. Rotolo said the course will most likely be made up of 200 people — 125 students have already confirmed their seats.

Rotolo said that a unique aspect of the class is its large emphasis on looking at the show from “the perspective of the digital age,” as people today might not know the cultural or historic context that the series addresses.

“Because of digital technology… we can appreciate the timeless series in a way that would not have been possible 10 years ago,” Rotolo said. “Speaking in ‘Doctor Who’ terms, we can, in a sense, be like the Doctor and travel back in time to experience the series.”

The class involves typical lectures incorporating clips, images and documents to keep the focus on “Doctor Who.” But during each class session, Rotolo said that students will also have to participate interactively through Twitter and have a live trivia element, during which students can win prizes.

Sophomore film major Mike Suchmann signed up to take the class because of his interest in the show he considers to be timeless.

“I just want to discuss in detail the TV show and talk about something that can be mindless and fun and turn it into something intelligent, because there really is a lot of intelligence in the show,” Suchmann said.

For two years, Rotolo worked extensively on researching and reading about the series. The “Doctor Who” class is something that he is doing on his own time. Rotolo is currently trying to get the course listed as part of the SU curriculum, but it is an ongoing process.

“Eventually, it may be something students can take the normal way,” Rotolo said. “But until then, I didn’t want to wait any longer to do this… It was far too late to create this course the old fashioned way.”

Sophomore theater design and technology major Jessica Crawford said she heard about the class on Facebook and wanted to take the class because she is a big fan of the show.

“It’s a great dynamic to try,” Crawford said. “It’s not just a class to sit there and geek out about ‘Doctor Who,’ but to basically make the ‘Doctor Who’ world real and analyze it like everything else.”

Crawford added that she’s not sure what she expects from the class, which is one reason why she wants to take it. Even though the show might be confusing because it involves a lot of science, math and time travel, Crawford hopes that the class will help in terms of making things clearer.

Rotolo said he hopes students can apply what they learn and make it relevant in their lives.

“I hope the ‘Doctor Who’ class will continue that tradition of unlocking possibilities and opening minds,” Rotolo said. “For a teacher, there’s nothing more valuable than that.”

Published on November 3, 2014 at 12:24 am

Contact Clare: clramire@syr.edu