"Wonder Woman Unleashed" Class Being Taught at the University of Iowa

So Husband Mark and I went to a movie yesterday: "Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice." It was an okay movie, but not enough superhuman fighting and too many dream sequences. They easily could have cut at least 30 minutes from the movie. Easily.

But I must confess. We went to the movie because of Wonder Woman. I would have watching "Barbershop 3" if I'd had my choice. But Mark is a Wonder Woman fan and I enjoy going to the movies with Mark, so we went to see Wonder Woman.

"Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice" needed a lot more Wonder Woman. Just saying...

Anyway, "Batman Vs. Superman" reminded me of a recent article about a new course at the University of Iowa called "Wonder woman Unleashed: A Hero for Our Times." It's an honors class that explores "Greek and Roman mythology, historic female figures and ancient texts" in the context of Wonder Woman's nearly 80 year publication and broadcast history:

"I started doing a little bit of research and I realized the history of Wonder Woman as a character is so stunning, shocking and bizarre that it would be wonderful to teach a whole class on her," (instructor Anna) Barker said.

The class, which meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, is structured in three parts. The first has students read plays about ancient, strong women. They include "Medea,""Antigone" and "Lysistrata."

The second part of the class focuses on reading about Amazons, an ancient race of fierce female warriors. Wonder Woman is an ancient Amazon warrior, according to comic book lore.

The third part of the class is where students get their hands on Wonder Woman comics. They read an introduction to Wonder Woman written by famed feminist Gloria Steinem, Jill Lepore's 2014 book "The Secret History of Wonder Woman" and Wonder Woman comics.

Barker has taught other comic book-themed courses at the University of Iowa, including a course comparing ancient mythology to modern day superheroes.