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Star Trek PhD Thesis Wins Academic Prize

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the who-said-watching-tv-rots-yer-brain dept.

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."

3 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. I didn't believe it... by nebaz · · Score: 5, Informative

    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
    1. Re:I didn't believe it... by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 4, Informative

      To further that, something I calculated when Enterprise went off the air:

      Now that Star Trek's over, it's interesting to see exactly how much Star Trek there is (canon only, add 660 minutes/11 hours if you include The Animated Series):

      Movies:

      The Motion Picture: 132 minutes
      The Wrath of Khan: 113 minutes
      The Search for Spock: 105 minutes
      The Voyage Home: 119 minutes
      The Final Frontier: 107 minutes
      The Undiscovered Country: 113 minutes
      Generations: 118 minutes
      First Contact: 106 minutes
      Insurrection: 103 minutes
      Nemesis: 116 minutes

      Episodes:

      The Original Series: 79 (3713 minutes @ 47 minutes/episode)
      The Next Generation: 178 (8010 minutes @ 45 minutes/episode)
      Deep Space Nine: 176 (7920 minutes @ 45 minutes/episode)
      Voyager: 172 (7740 minutes @ 45 minutes/episode)
      Enterprise: 98 (4116 minutes @ 42 minutes/episode)

      Movies Total: 1132 minutes (18 hours, 52 minutes)
      Episodes Total: 31499 minutes (524 hours, 59 minutes)
      Grand Total: 32631 minutes (543 hours, 51 minutes)

      That's 22 days, 15 hours and 51 minutes of Star Trek. Not bad...

  2. Re:Myth and Star Trek??? by Scutter · · Score: 3, Informative

    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?"