MTV couldn’t have pre dicted the media juggernaut on its hands when it un leashed the “Jersey Shore” beast onto popular culture. One can only imagine how the series was pitched to cringing MTV executives: “It’s going to be a show about a group of young Americans who get drunk and cause drama at a beach house in “Foucault’s Go ing To The Jersey Shore, B!#ch!” These subjects dis cussed gender studies, ethical values, and the glamorization of celebrity culture. While advocates found this evalu ation on popular culture endearing and innovative, many people questioned the university’s credibility as an institution of learning.

It would be interesting to see the reactions of students and faculty if the conference came to St. Edward’s Univer sity. There would be raving about a lack of professional ism, a betrayal of high-art, a dismissal of proper edu cation or a loss of morality and values. Conversely, there would most likely be a silent majority, intrigued in some manner by the prospect of an immensely relevant dis section of popular media.

Reality television has be come slapdash and clumsy, indicative of a predatory youth culture drama but not its cause. Never has a generation been so deeply invested in these alternate realities. But just like the cast of “Jersey Shore,” who have made a career out of mock ing their television personas, students today are becoming more and more self-aware. A Jersey Shore Studies conference would not only further elaborate on social conditions in youth culture, but also delve into the re lationship between these issues and popular media.

As an institution dedicated to the idea of critical think ing, St. Edward’s could seri ously consider a Jersey Shore Studies conference or some thing like it, expounding on the correlation between pop ular culture and prevalent so cial issues.