"ARCHAEOLOGY, ARAMAIC, AND MEL GIBSON" appears to be an actual class taught at Loyola Marymount University by Father William Fulco, the Semitist who served as consultant to Gibson's upcoming movie The Passion of the Christ and who translated the dialogue into Aramaic. It's not unusual these days to have courses based on movies (we've had one at St. Mary's on the Bible in film) or, I suppose, even a single movie. But how many courses are based on a movie that hasn't even come out yet? Is that postmodern or what?

The writer of the letter to the Modesto Bee certainly seemed to feel she got something out of the course. It would be cool if Aramaic was actually required, but I suspect it wasn't. I wonder what the enrollments were like. And I hope the class got a special preview of the movie.