One of the things that's kept me from pursuing more official study in my field is a dearth of things offered that I want to spend a lot of my money and time digging into (so technically that's three things: Disinterest, laziness and being a cheapo). I don't imagine that everything in my field that needs studying or exploring has been studied and explored, but it seems like most of the stuff that halfway interests me has.
Then I read about some of the academic work being done in the field of pop culture studies and I realize that as long as my particular discipline (theology and related matters) isn't spawning actual theses like these, we've got plenty left to do.
For me, the real kicker was No. 8, "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: the aesthetics of phallo-militaristic justice." I've got no idea what it's about, but my opinion is if you can get that ridiculous collection of the emperor's new verbiage past an editorial review committee, you've earned your money.
I will have to call a foul on No. 11, though: "Jung and Picard: archetypes and the modern myth of Star Trek: The Next Generation." According to the Mental Floss notation, the paper suggests that the whole crew is "the Hero" of Jungian analysis. But as any true Trek fan will tell you, Ensign Wesley was not only not a hero, he represented almost everything that was wrong with the show. I have no idea how that one got past the Pacifica Graduate Institute's academic standards committee, but I feel moved to write a strong letter of protest. Somebody mail me fifty cents for the stamp and I'll get right on it.
(H/T VA Viper)
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