Imagine an American Idol sort of show for university professors. TVOntario has a reality show called Big Ideas in which Canadian professors give lectures and the tv audience votes on who gives the best lecture. The winner from this past season was Arne Kislenko, a professor of History at Ryerson University. Check out the actual video lecture on WWII: The Soviet Experience.
I don't teach very much these days, but I think this is a novel idea. I wonder if PBS is willing to give it a go? I doubt it would be successful in America, unless the concept was snazzied up a bit. Perhaps starting with a brief bio of the professors' lives, their struggles and heartaches. Then moving on to a charity which will receive the prize money. Instead of 50 minute lectures, the professors must try to explain their research to various lay audiences (5 year old children, senior citizens, foreigners, juvenile delinquents) who then rate the effectiveness of the lecture. Last, the professors must debate each other on the merits of each other's scholarship. Oh, imagine the nerd factor each step of the way.
Posted by richlee at December 1, 2005 06:47 AM