Ever wonder what a television reality show starring academics might look like? Laurie Fendrich, a contributor to The Chronicle of Higher Education's Brainstorm blog, has not only imagined such a show, she has described it. Here is a taste:
Each week the candidates are presented with a different challenge. In the first episode (the only one aired so far), the challenge was to get a five-page article accepted in a peer-reviewed journal. It was oh-so-tense watching everyone frantically type away for a full day on their laptops. Afterwards, we got to listen to the contestants whispering on their cell phones to their dissertation advisers, asking them to put in a good word with their inside contacts at various journals. I was surprised at how most of those advisers seemed so stand-offish toward their former students, but a couple of them said no problem, the article was as good as published. The guy who lost the first round was chewed out big-time by the judges for being so naive as to think that anybody would print an article arguing that the textual evidence proves Ayn Rand and I.F. Stone were lovers.
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