"basket weaving" revisited

[Jonathan Lighter]

Oh, man, and I always thought the _weavers_ had to be underwater!

But they still could be, right?

JL


James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA> wrote: ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society
Poster:       James Harbeck
Subject:      Re: "basket weaving" revisited
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I remember quite distinctly an item on some news or fluff show in the
'80s about a college that was in fact offering a course on underwater
basket weaving -- apparently the material is more workable when
constantly wet. Looking on the web, I see that it might have been
UCSD. Here's some info from
http://www.answers.com/topic/underwater-basket-weaving: "The
University of California, San Diego's recreation department first
offered an underwater basket-weaving class in 1984. Saint Joseph's
College in Indiana offers this class as well, as does Simon Fraser
University in Canada. Reed College in Portland, Oregon also offers an
Underwater Basket Weaving class during Paideia, its festival of
learning."

What's the earliest cite for "underwater basket weaving" (as opposed
to just "basket weaving") anyone has referring to a "gut" course?

I'm sure that there are great intricacies available in basket
weaving, and that it is at least slightly unjustly maligned... Not
very academic, though, more skill-oriented. (Reminds me of the joke I
heard at U of Calgary: How many phys ed majors does it take to change
a lightbulb? Twelve, but they all get credit.)

James Harbeck.

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