About 25 bright young minds gather at DePaul University twice a week for an in-depth class every Chicagoan can relate to.

For those scoring at home, it's course number ISP 102-709: Chicago Cubs, taught by professor Blair Banwart and assisted by Ed Pniak.

"When I tell people that I'm teaching a class about the Cubs, they kind of laugh, which is understandable," said Banwart, who wears a Cubs hat to class. "You try to make it academic, as much as you can. The kids take it seriously."

That's right, a class about baseball. The syllabus includes a look at the history of the club since the 1870s and its effect on the surrounding community. It is one of many freshman-level classes offered at DePaul designed to ease the transition from high school to college, especially for students unfamiliar with the city.

The course was offered a few years ago and found its way back this fall, met by teeming interest. Several students jumped at the opportunity upon reading this four-credit class description a few months ago:

"This course will look at the history of the Cubs, from Cap Anson to Carlos Zambrano, stopping along the way on names like Hack Wilson, Ernie Banks, and Ryne Sandberg. We will also learn more about Wrigley Field and the neighborhood around it, will hear from speakers with ties to the team, and will attend a game against the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers. Being a fan of the Cubs is not a requirement for this course, but you should have an interest in baseball. (And having empathy for long-suffering Cubs fans wouldn't hurt either.) So put on your caps, bring along your lucky talismans, and "knock on wood" we'll find out if the 100th year really is, at last, THE year."

As you can imagine, it was easily one of the most popular sections during online class registration. The lucky ones that got in guessed it filled in under an hour, about as long as it took Division Series tickets to sell out in September.

"My parents thought it was a [slack] off class," said freshman Marvin Bayan.

Moms and dads are probably wondering, what do you learn in class every day?

"We talk a lot about what it means to be a Cubs fan," Carrie Kliver said. "It's disappointment every year, yet still coming back."

"We learned a lot more about the stories, myths, curses, superstitions, how the people still love the Cubs," Bayan said.

The class is meant to be fun. Like the description foretold, the big class field trip was to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game, a memorable 12-inning comeback victory against Milwaukee on Sept. 18. Another day, Banwart assigned a Cubs scavenger hunt in the library. One period, the students tried to name a Cubs player for every letter of the alphabet. Zambrano made the last one pretty easy.

But there are papers and projects, like any other class. Each student must write a recap of their Cubs game experience and, for a final paper, a study of how the Cubs mix with society, such as club charities.

Banwart had hoped to add a playoff game viewing party for Game 5 of the NLDS to the schedule, but that went awry.

"Sadly, it ended much more quickly than I thought," he said. "I joked with them that the course is canceled because there's nothing else to talk about."