Reason #514,376 Why I Don't Live In California

Wow. Talk about higher education. According to Matt Rosenberg at Rosenblog, the New College of California has a Master's Program in "Activism and Social Change." Seriously, people apparently study this. Check out some of the bios of the enrolled students...

Bryan Burgess received a B.F.A. from the North Carolina School of the Arts. An activist artist, Bryan’s thesis is an exploration of theater methods used to challenge gender binaries and gender oppression. Bryan’s goal is to develop a theater model that can be used as an organizing tool for cross-identity alliance building. Bryan is currently working with People in Search of Safe Restrooms (PISSR) and the Transgender Law Center on their campaign for safe bathroom access and is the events coordinator for New College’s Activism & Social Change program.

...Harjit Gill received his B.A. from UC Chico with a major in Sociology and a minor in Religious Studies. Harjit is active in the labor movement; the animal/earth rights movement; the anti-war movement; and the anti-capitalist (specifically the anarchist) movement. He is currently a field organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World and hopes to begin working with Let's Get Free on the issue of prison abolition. In his thesis Harjit will explore patterns of assimilation within two different South Asian communities in the U.S.; one, a group of immigrant truck drivers, the other, dot.com white-collar workers.

...Natali Smith received her B.A. from St. Lawrence University, majoring in Sociology and Gender Studies. Natali’s thesis is a documentary video that argues for more aggressive, disciplined, participatory (at least in the form of ownership), goal-oriented and sustained direct action where activists are actively problematizing privilege and vanguardism. The thesis will debate the notion of non-violence where it is moralistic and strategic in its intention and champion both violent and non-violent tactics as they fit the above criteria, while also dissecting and reinterpreting the definitions of violence and non-violence. Natali works with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children as development coordinator, and is actively engaged in anti-corporate globalization, police brutality, former prisoner discrimination, anti state-sanctioned relationships, transnational feminist, environmental racism justice and queer and gender-queer advocacy/struggles. Also facilitates Culture Jamming and Know Your Rights (On the street and during a direct action), Protest/Direct Action 101 Lectures/Trainings.

Manish Vaidya was born in Massachusetts and raised on the East Coast and received his B.A. from Penn State University with the self-designed curriculum of Social and Economic Justice and minored in Women’s Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies. For his Master’s thesis he is interested in using experimental performance, internet and alternative media to engage a new generation of activists in broad-based, multi-issue, cross-constituency organizing. He is an Electoral Action Trainer with the U.S. Student Association. Manish is passionate about queer rights, South Asian organizing, the separation of church and state, and battling the right-wing.

(hat tip: Polipundit and The New Editor) Whew. Good thing he made it clear about battling the right-wing -- I couldn't figure that out otherwise. Meanwhile, I love the New College's motto: Education for a Just, Sustainable and Sacred World. None of that Latin crapola for them.

I really hope this is a joke. If not... well, it reminds of a great line from the 1994 David Spade flick PCU:

Tom: "What's he doin?"
Droz: "He's finishing his senior thesis. Pigman is trying to prove the Caine-Hackman theory. No matter what time it is, 24 hours a day, you can find a Michael Caine or Gene Hackman movie playing on TV."
Tom: "That's his thesis?"
Droz: "Yes! That's the beauty of college these days, Tommy! You can major in Game Boy if you know how to bullshit."

Truth is apparently stranger than fiction.