Anthony Bourdain Is the Subject of a New Class at Louisiana's Nicholls State University

From journalism and television to the travel and restaurant industries, Anthony Bourdain influenced numerous fields throughout his career. His own work was also heavily influenced by the art, films, and literature he loved—and he wasn't afraid to make that clear in his shows. Next year, Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana is hosting an entire class dedicated to the media that shaped the chef/writer/television personality, USA Today reports.

Nicholls State professor Todd Kennedy was inspired to design the course following Bourdain's death in June. Like many fans, he was affected by the loss, and started reflecting on how successful Bourdain had been in seamlessly blending literature, film, travel, and food into his documentaries. He pitched a class called "Anthony Bourdain and His Influencers" for the spring 2019 semester, which was quickly approved by the college.

"Almost every episode of Bourdain's shows directly reference and/or pay homage to a major work of literature or film as he develops his own visual and narrative argument about culture, politics, food, art, and the intersections therein," the class description reads. "This course will pair Bourdain's work with the writings and films that influenced him, connecting ways of understanding the world around us through the lens of a transformative writer and public figure."

Based on an image Kennedy shared on Twitter, the course materials will includes movies such as Apocalypse Now (1979) and Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) and books like Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison and The Quiet American by Graham Greene. The class is a film studies course, but it also satisfies some English credits.

Enrollment for the class opens sometime this month, and it will only be open to current students at Nicholls State. A condensed version of the class will also be made available online to students outside southern Louisiana.