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Star Trek PhD Thesis Wins Academic Prize
An anonymous reader writes "A PhD thesis based on Star Trek has won an Australian university's top academic prize. Dr Djoymi Baker's 90,000 word dissertation 'Broadcast Space: TV Culture, Myth and Star Trek' was awarded the University of Melbourne's Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in the PhD. Dr Baker watched over 700 Star Trek episodes — more than 624 hours — to investigate the relationship between ancient mythology and today's popular culture. American academics thought her research was 'superlative' and suitable for teaching."
But it is possible. There are (courtesy of tv.com)
79 Original Trek Episodes
178 Next Gen Episodes
176 Deep Space Nine Episodes
172 Voyager Episodes
98 Enterprise Episodes
Which totals 703 episodes. He didn't even need the 22 Animated Series episodes.
Wow.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
Watch closer. The whole of ST:TOS was an exploration of the Human Condition. It just happened to take place in space, ergo it was "Sci Fi".
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
Man even /. is getting sensationalized.
First the news media is about to soil it's collective shorts about some Tropical Storm Ernesto which no one seems to know where its going.
And now we see a title in an article about a "Star Trek PhD Thesis"
Isn't this kind of stupid? The paper was NOT about star trek. Star Trek episodes were nothing but a research tool used to access a much deeper level of human culture.
What's next? Someone writes a thesis on psychological and physiological symptoms and causes of game addiction and uses WoW as a study medium? I can see the headlines: "World of Warcraft PhD Thesis roxxors my boxxors"
Well, your point would be a little more effective if the quote you gave was actually from Shatner, rather than a Saterday Night Live skit.
The website you gave *was* http://snltranscripts.jt.org/
Shouldn't that be KHAAAN!!!?
This just proves that PhD stands for "piled higher and deeper."
Not all PhD's. But in this case...I'm a little inclined to agree. No offence to the talented and fetching Dr. Baker, but here are the other three winners of the U of Melbourne's Chancellor's Prize of Excellence:
(1) "Penelope Smith (Social Sciences), who used economic modeling to better understand business cycles in Australia and large Group of 7 economies - drawing information which is critical for setting fiscal and monetary policy."
(2) "Martin de Jonge (Science and Engineering) whose work will lead to more incisive synchrotron x-ray studies that are 100 times more accurate than current levels."
(3) "Christopher Smith (Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) who identified the cell which encourages the body's immune system to fight the herpes simplex virus."
Seems like a wee bit more serious and useful work. On the other hand, clearly Baker is a right clever jane, having figured out how to get the yeomanry of 'Stralia pay her a handsome stipend for five years while she watches her favorite TV show and takes notes. Well done, lass! You have to admire that kind of panache.
Why do the poets of the present not speak of it?
The Horses Name was Physics
The Horse's name was Physics,
and they rode it well.
The only difference was this:
Some chose to flog the horse,
some flogged themselves.
A book of poems about the development of atomic theory from WWI to the atomic bomb, although it deals mostly with the personalities involved and not the atom itself.
KFG
So Scientology is a "UFO religion"? Heaven's Gate, yeah... but I think that's the first time I've heard of Hubbard's club referred to that way. Who knows, it might catch on?
Scientologists believe all the world's problems are caused by the spirits of dead aliens that were imprisoned on the Earth by an evil galactic overlord. So they are a UFO religion.
TFA says "Since finishing her thesis last year, the 34-year-old has had a daughter and is turning her thesis into an academic text." So it probably will be published.
It's been done.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.