Post Academic

Lindsay Lohan mugshot (public domain)

Our irregularly recurring “Footnotes” feature pops up every once in a while on a weekend to collect some stories floating around online that may or may not be directly relevant to academia, but that are kind-of entertaining and maybe even interesting.  This time around, we have some tidbits about celebrities.

1. Even fake grad students are having a hard time finding work: So according to TMZ, Lindsay Lohan was supposed to star in a role as a graduate student in a film titled The Other Side–until she was fired for not being a “bankable” enough star.  You know what else isn’t bankable?  The premise of the film, which was apparently about a “grad student working on a deserted island.”  Hey, if Lindsay Lohan could pull off playing a grad student of any type, maybe she’d be a better actor than she’s given credit for. (h/t to reader Patty)

2. Maybe Lindsay Lohan would be better off as a the subject of grad student research–like Lady Gaga!: Let us introduce you to “Gaga Stigmata: Critical Writings and Art about Lady Gaga”, an e-journal/blog about Material Girl 2.0.  “Gaga Stigmata” describes itself as a “a new technological breed of journal that intends to take seriously the brazenly unserious shock pop phenomenon and fame monster known as Lady Gaga”, with a goal of producing a collection of published writing on the topic.  We’ve discussed the frustrations associated with the conventional means of publishing academic research, from the limited opportunities for young scholars to the timeliness of research to what we call the time-lag problem, so, hey, more power to “Gaga Stigmata.”

"Lady Gaga and Monster announce Project RED Heartbeats" by Domain Barnyard from Wikipedia Commons (Creative Commons)

3. Celebrity commencement speakers, coming to a campus near you: At this time of year, you might be just as likely to see a celebrity on campus giving a commencement speech as you are tracking one on the Gawker Stalker.  Some celeb speakers include Meryl Streep at Barnard, Alec Baldwin at NYU, Anderson Cooper at Tulane, and Vassar ’85 alum Lisa Kudrow at her alma mater.  For a more comprehensive list of commencement speakers, celeb or otherwise, go to this College Confidential forum.