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'Occupy Wall Street' Participation To Earn Class Credit At Columbia U.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Columbia University will offer a new course for upperclassmen and grad students next semester. An Occupy Wall Street class will send students into the field and will be taught by Dr. Hannah Appel, a veteran of the Occupy movement.

The course begins next semester and will be divided between class work at Columbia's Morningside Heights campus and fieldwork that will require students to become involved with the Occupy movement outside of the classroom.

The course will be called "Occupy the Field: Global Finance, Inequality, Social Movement" it will be run by the anthropology department.

Appel is a staunch defender of the Occupy movement, in her blog she said that, ""it is important to push back against the rhetoric of 'disorganization' or 'a movement without a message' coming from left, right and center."

Appel told the New York Post that while her involvement with the movement will color the way she teaches it will not prevent her from being an objective teacher.

The movement which began in September has been met with large amounts of support and resistance.

Dozens of occupiers were arrested shortly before midnight on New Years Eve when police say that they were tearing down barricades surrounding Zuccotti Park.

At least one of the people arrested was charged with assaulting a police officer, others were charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment.

Police are still processing arrests but say some protesters have been released. No other details were immediately available Sunday.

What do you think about the new class at Columbia and the alleged New Year's Eve antics of the occupiers? Let us know in our comments section...

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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