Simon’s and Burns’ career backgrounds and experiences

I never thought it was possible to incorporate a show Simon’s and Burns’ career backgrounds and experiences however have lent them the insight needed to create a work of fiction that functions almost as a journalistic documentary to expose middle- and upper-class suburban viewers to an urban underclass world — a world that many would not otherwise be able to understand or identify with.

“I never thought it was possible to incorporate a show and actually learn stuff from it, but it brings up so many issues that other shows do not bring up or that you don’t normally pay attention to,” said Erika Rief, a college sophomore currently enrolled in the class. “Talking about the underclass has brought up a lot of issues about worlds you never see. In the presentation I gave today I talked about different isolated cities within a city and how you don’t see the entire city when you go downtown for a night.”

While Chittambalam acknowledges that no other show could be used to teach a class nearly as well as “The Wire” can be, due to the unique and complex nature of the show, he also noted that television in general can be a useful tool for teaching a broad array of topics.