Harvard, the nation’s insufferable institution of higher learnin’ attended by the nation’s most insufferable kids from its most insufferable families, will offer a course on HBO’s The Wire, the best TV show ever made, so as to better educate their pampered student body about life in the ghetto. Says William J. Wilson, who will teach the class: “I do not hesitate to say that (The Wire) has done more to enhance our understanding of the challenges of urban life and the problems of urban inequality, more than any other media event or scholarly publication.

At a panel last night, stars of the HBO hit series joined Harvard professors in discussing the applications of the show—which depicts the struggles of urban life in Baltimore—in understanding and combating real urban social issues.