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New Class At Saginaw Valley State University Focuses On 'Orange Is The New Black'

KOCHVILLE TWP. (WWJ/AP) - Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan is offering a new course that focuses on the popular Netflix series "Orange is the New Black."

Assistant Professor of English Kim Lacey will use the show, based on the lives of female inmates at a federal minimum-security prison, as a platform when she teaches Writing about Oppression on TV this winter. She plans to discuss issues related to race, gender, class and sexual orientation with examples from the show's plotlines.

"I don't think we know how to have conversations - or more intelligent conversations - about those types of issues," Lacey told The Saginaw News.

Students will supplement episodes of the show with a textbook that delves into the same issues presented in other media. Transgender actress Laverne Cox, who plays transgender inmate Sophia Burset on the show, will speak on campus in February.

"She'll be talking about her transition," Lacey said.

Lacey said she loves the show and wants to keep talking about it. A lot of her students also watch the show and wish to gain a better understanding of it, she said.

"They'll be able to watch shows and have a greater understanding or a greater vocabulary to discuss them intelligently," she said. "These shows are actually commenting on things that are happening in our society."

Lacey said both sections of the course were quickly filled.

TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

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