Geography Professor Studies the Paranormal in Unique Class

Determined to show, "that geography can be a fun and relevant subject," Dr. Charles "Fritz" Gritzner, Professor of Geography at South Dakota State University has begun a new class called, "Geography of the Paranormal".

The Collegian has more:

Gritzner's idea for the class came from his interest in the abnormal. One year, a student of his did a research paper about crop circles, which then lead to his own research on crop circles. He then found the book "Unexplained," by Jerome Clark, which was all about abnormal activity. Using a list of six research criteria, Gritzner picked fifteen of the book's 350 topics to cover in class. The topics include crop circles, the Bermuda Triangle and spontaneous combustion.

"Almost everything can be explained using geography," Gritzner said.

Despite concerns that he might be labeled a "wacko," Dr. Gritzner has high hopes for the class and it has proven popular with students. "This class dealt with a lot of stuff that you would never discuss in any other class," Matt Frankenstein, a geography major. "It was interesting because we got to study strange phenomena and the causes behind them."