Last Friday, students and University faculty gathered in Ida Noyes Hall for a small dose of life on the Jersey Shore. But instead of some good, old-fashioned GTL and hard fist-pumpin’, attendees of the UChicago Conference on Jersey Shore Studies were treated to an intellectual spin on MTV’s record-breaking series.
The conference, organized by UChicago student David Showalter, teamed up students and faculty to place “Jersey Shore” in an academic and cultural context. From the building blocks of Guido identity to feminism, the show’s most memorable moments became a foundation for psychological, sociological, and even philosophical study.
Students and professors were invited to submit their papers months prior to the conference. Many entries chose to explore the show in a philosophical context (“Foucault’s Going to the Jersey Shore, Bitch!”), while others analyzed its role in portraying issues like domestic violence (“Shorely this Can’t be Right”). In the end, 25 papers were chosen with their writers representing American and Canadian universities.
Most presenters were grouped into panels of three or four based on their paper’s subject matter. There, the authors read through their paper and prepared for an audience Q&A session. But panel discussions aside, the conference also featured prominent keynote speakers such as Alison Hearn from the University of Western Ontario and Brian Moylan, editor of news and gossip sheet Gawker Media. Known for their media-savvy work, Hearn and Moylan were two of four keynote speakers who intrigued attendees by analyzing the show’s cultural significance.
The conference revealed a facet of the show few, given the nature of “Jersey Shore”, had ever thought to explore. “’Jersey Shore’ is ridiculous, we all know that,” affirmed Shannon Perez-Darby, representative of The Northwest Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian & Gay Survivors of Abuse. “But you need to look past the ridiculousness because a lot of what happens in the show uncovers why we act the way we do and, sometimes, how we should be acting.”
To illustrate her point, Perez-Darby examines Ronnie and Sammi’s destructive relationship and their friends’ reactions. Unlike most reality shows, Perez-Darby claims, “Jersey Shore” walks the viewer through each little stage of a violent relationship instead of cutting out the buildup. Then there is the cast’s dedication to maintain a support group around Ronnie and Sammi which, Perez-Darby argues, fights the isolation that usually results from an abusive relationship. In other words, “the cast is, surprisingly, teaching us how to help.”
Many of the ideas put forward did seem like a stretch (after all, this is “Jersey Shore”), but the conference encouraged the creativity necessary in academia. All the talk of “grenades” and “landmines” did generate discussion about the show’s intellectual and cultural application, which was the conference’s original goal. With that, while most attendees still see “Jersey Shore” as a crazy show with the wildest people, they will at least be aware of its various interpretations.
Not sure what Annie means by “GTL”? Don’t know what Snooki is talking about when she says she’s a “bush queen”? Find out with The Daily Beast’s “Real Jersey Dictionary, Vol. 3” !