Slashdot Mirror
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."
I'm a doctor, not an editor! Not kill I.
It's an article, CmdrTaco, but not as we know it. Ahead mod factor five.
Finally Star Trek is gaining the academic recognition it so richly deserves. Having Trekology as an official subject for a BS degree should be coming up soon at all major mail order universities. Live long and prospers.
... did she successfully pass the Kobayashi Maru exam?
"A PhD thesis based on Star Trek has won an Australian university's top academic prize."
Now all we need is a PhD thesis based on several years of reading slashdot.
It is nice to think that at least today we KNOW that our myths are made-up.
But there are still some people who manage to insist they are real, actual events! - UFO religions like the Scientologists or heaven's gate.
Nonetheless, despite the fact that our current mythology is fiction, Star Trek and the like are at least Science Fiction: not based upon the supernatural, but instead upon testable, and currently tested theories and ideas.
Amazing: even as culturally advanced as we fancy ourselves, we still retain those ancient urges to believe in the fantastic. But
perhaps that's because so much in this universe is actually fantastic; far more, in fact, than we ever imagined.
It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the late, great Dr. Feynman: "Far more marvelous is the truth than any artists of the
past imagined it. Why do the poets of the present not speak of it? What men are poets who can speak of Jupiter if he were a man, but if
he is an immense spinning sphere of methane and ammonia must be silent?"
My Computer Music Tutorial Videos
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
Djoymi Baker watched 700 episodes - 624 hours without ads - of Star Trek and its spin-offs, dating from 1966 to 2005, in the name of research.
But for me it would be:
Anonymous Coward watched 700 episodes - 624 hours without ads - of pornography and its cum-shots, dating from 1966 to 2005, in the name of research.
...sounds like BS to me!
Finally Star Trek is gaining the academic recognition it so richly deserves. Having Trekology as an official subject for a BS degree should be coming up soon at all major mail order universities. Live long and prospers.
Maybe some day those who embrace the Federation's Ideals can be accepted on a jury or even in public office.
stardate 2006.828 i've successfully been elected to the town school board. the squabbling is terrible and nothing ever gets done. i've never felt in need of a phaser so much in my life.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Star Trek "priest": "And Scotty beamed them to the Klingon ship, where there would be no tribble at all"
Crowd chants: "All power to the engines!"
My Computer Music Tutorial Videos
Abstract: In the spirit of the best human qualities, Anonymous Cowards seeking public yet anonymous recognition show formidable selflessness. By doing away with the link between benevolent exposure of ideas and karma gratification they elevate public commentary to a social reinforcement of Insightful, Interesting and Funny: all essential components of high achievements. This in turn strengthens the Blog medium with not only cohesive forces but justifies the Anonymous Cowards with legitimacy beyond what have been observed throughout the history of the Internets. Their willingness to start from scratch over and over yet still earn the respect of their peers hardly justifies the "coward" epithet and proves that comments, even at -1, are a gold mine for those seeking understanding of TFA.
We will show that Anonymous Corwardiness is alive and well and that despite sometime adverse moderation, this modern tradition offers by its unique qualities a look inside the human soul.
And to reinforce those in each generation.
Myths tell us what is "good" and what is "bad".
Culture is culture. If no one looks at culture of the present day, we lose a lot of valuable information. You're basically saying it's OK to abolish the study of culture at the university level. And while I am not personally interested in Star Trek, I do think that it has had an amazing influence over a large portion of the general population, and studying that effect is definitely worth the effort. And I wouldn't be surprised if someone doesn't look at the effect of the Simpsons on our civilization. Ignoring the mundane details that describe our culture means ignoring the essence of culture as a whole.
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
No, no, no. Not 'shitty'. The term you're looking for is 'Shatty'.
Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick Two.
...how important intelligent communication is. While a topic like 'TV Culture, Myth and Star Trek', in my opinion, does not provide a revolutionary breakthrough in the study of humanities, the fact that she intelligently and effectively enumerates and supports her argument is enough to merit the award she received.
Faith is a willingness to accept something w/o complete proof and to act on it. Reason allows you to correct that faith.
I dunno, your analysis seems to dismiss Dr. Baker (who is a fox) and her research just because it is in a modern cultural field. Yes, something like a medical advance is extremely useful to humanity, but when he isn't studying immunological facotrs relating to the herpes virus, what does Dr Christopher Smith watch on TV while he relaxes? Why does he watch it, and what does it say about the greater cultural forces surrounding him? If he responds to the Borg, for instance, as effective villains, why is that? Is it because they are ugly and their mechanical elements makes them intimidating, or is it because they represent the polar opposite of the Thatcher-esque mode of thinking that has come to define modern capitalist nations? (Thatcher once said there is no society, only individuals. The Borg are the exact opposite.)
I could go on a rant about how medicine may allow us to live, but culture makes life worth living, but it would be a stretch to say that Dr Baker is producing culture. What she is doing is helping us understand our own culture. When we foster a society that can engage critically with its own culture and media, we have a culture that is less susceptble to the influence of those who would use media to control the public. We gain understanding, or at least perspective, on the other cultures surrounding is and the cultures that preceded us, and we also open doorways to a brighter future. How many people do you think became engineers or scientists thanks to watching Star Trek as children? Couldn't Jules Verne and Meliés deserve some credit for inspiring certain elements of our journeys to the mood and beneath the oceans?
As someone currently in college, currently studying animation (but finding myself drawn away from the practical side and towards the theoretical side) I often grapple with the feeling that I'm devoting a lot of my time, my youth and my mental energy to something that could quite possibly be considered irrelevant. On some level it's possible to say that research using Star Trek is fairly inconsequential, but ultimately, devoting research to it goes back to one of my favorite adages of philosophy, Socrates. The unexamined life is not worth living. If no one examines Star Trek, is it worth watching?
Yup...