Let there be rock

English professor Bryan Bardine is a special kind of professor. He teaches English and film courses with a special expertise — heavy metal. His course English 331: Films of Rock, Metal and Punk is unique and very popular with students.

As you enter his office, on the second floor of Humanities, you will notice the many posters, stickers and graphics around the space. You will see popular bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Kataklysm and more.

Bardine has been a fan since he was in high school.

"I like the aggression in the music, the themes that the bands sing about, and the huge diversity of the genres of the music," he said.

One of Bardine's goals in teaching his students about metal is to expose them to a genre of music and culture that a good majority of them do not have much knowledge on. Bryan expresses that there is a significant amount of scholarly research on metal and its culture. He said he hopes this will give his students a new perspective on conducting research, in a very unique way. 

Bardine said heavy metal is an overlooked genre because of the popular nature surrounding it, but when looking at the less popular side of the genre, you will find music with a deeper meaning in it. It tells a story.