Since its inception, it always seemed as though HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was the bane of college kids’ existence — homework seems boring when compared to Jon Snow’s climactic battle against the White Walkers. But now, students can put their knowledge of Westeros to good use in a new George R.R. Martin-themed class offered by the University of British Columbia.

　　HBO电视台的《权力的游戏》自开播以来，似乎大学生们对学业已不再那么关注，反而注意力放在了雪诺对抗异鬼的经典之战上。不过现在这一局面已经改变了，英属哥伦比亚大学得同学们可以将自己从《权力的游戏》中所学的维斯特洛大陆的知识运用到一堂关于乔治·马丁的主题课程了。

　　The class is titled “Our Modern Medieval: ‘The Song of Ice and Fire’ as contemporary Medievalism,” and aims to use the popularity of the series to point out the way history is transformed in the public consciousness by fiction.

　　课程的名字叫做“现代人的中世纪世界：‘冰与火之歌’，试图通过该剧的广泛认知度来说明小说是怎样改变公众所认知的历史。

　　“Martin’s works hold an influential place in the popular modern imagined medieval, largely supplanting any real notion of the European Middle Ages,” says Professor Robert Rouse, via The Independent. The presence of dragons serves as a clue that Martin wasn’t looking to flawlessly re-create the real medieval period, but Rouse explains that the series also offers commentary on modern day.

　　在接受英国独立报采访时，Robert Rouse教授说，“马汀的作品对现代人所构建出来的中世纪社会有着深远的影响，可以说替代了关于欧洲中世纪的任何确凿的观念“。

　　The presence of dragons serves as a clue that Martin wasn’t looking to flawlessly re-create the real medieval period, but Rouse explains that the series also offers commentary on modern day.The class will “be considering Martin’s works as much for what they tell us about our own moment,” Rouse says, “as for what they tell us about our ideas of the past.”

　　作品中龙的出现说明马汀并不是纯粹的描绘真实的中世纪景象，Rouse教授解释说，《权力的游戏》同时也在批判当今的世界。这堂课将会讨论马汀的作品给我们现代世界带来的一些启示，以及我们对历史的思考”。

　　The best part of the course has got to be the required reading — all five seasons of “Game of Thrones” in addition to Martin’s five super-detailed novels must be watched in order to be prepared for the first class discussion.

　　课程最精彩的部分肯定是阅读要求了—马汀的五部《权力的游戏》电视剧和所有的原著小说都必须在开课前预习完，以便在课堂上讨论。

　　更多精彩内容 >> 新东方网英语频道 

　　全国新东方英语课程搜索

（编辑：何莹莹）