Gym, Tan, Study: UChicago Student Organizes 'Jersey Shore' Academic Conference

There's no doubt that "Jersey Shore" is already a cultural phenomenon. The show is entering its fourth season, paying its stars six figures, and it has spawned a UK spinoff in addition to three future US spinoffs.

But University of Chicago student David Showalter thinks there's more to the "Shore" than just a bunch of fist-pumping, fights, and Thursday night guilty-pleasure viewing. Showalter has organized a full-on academic conference for "Jersey Shore" to be held at UChicago in October.

That means that a crowd of intellectuals from all areas of study will gather at UChicago to hear speakers from the University of Michigan, the University of Western Ontario, and the Onion A.V. Club give their two cents on the "Jersey Shore" phenomenon. Anyone researching or writing about the show can submit a 500-600 word abstract for the chance to share their findings at the conference.

It's not that it's unheard of to study TV shows at the college level. In fact, it happens quite often, and can provide interesting insights in the fields of media studies, anthropology, gender and race studies, and other academic areas. Whether or not a show quite as dumb as "Jersey Shore" has earned its own academic conference, however, is still in question.

For more information about the academic experience of a lifetime, check out the Facebook page for the event.