Props to the University of Minnesota for its alacrity in updating its curriculum. Last week, the school’s student paper, the MN Daily, reported that a class dubbed “Oil and Water: The Gulf Oil Spill of 2010,” a joint venture of the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and the Institute for Advanced Study, would be rolled out this fall.

The class will address the current crisis in the Gulf by educating students on the history and ecology of the Gulf, the makeup of the Louisiana economy and the impact of past oil spills on humans and the environment.

Robert Gilmer, a University graduate student and the course’s instructor, hopes to help students sort through the contradictions and find connections within the Gulf crisis, as he explained to MN Daily reporter Miranda Taylor: “What fascinates me the most about it is looking at all the paradoxes involved….While oil and water do not usually mix, it is easy to forget that something as basic as the success or failure of commercial fishing in Louisiana is closely tied to oil."

What other new courses should schools be offering? Let us know what you think in the comments fields below.