April 27, 2010

Professors From the Working Class Credit Their Rise to Rock—and Agent Scully

Professors from the Working Class Credit Their Rise to Rock—and Agent Scully 1

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The character of the FBI agent Dana Scully in "The X-Files" is just one aspect of popular culture that has inspired people of working-class backgrounds to pursue academic careers.

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Photofest

The character of the FBI agent Dana Scully in "The X-Files" is just one aspect of popular culture that has inspired people of working-class backgrounds to pursue academic careers.

By Peter Schmidt

Television, popular music, and comic books are probably not the first things that come to mind when parents look for ways to turn their children into devoted scholars. But a new study of college faculty members from working-class backgrounds finds that many credit popular culture for inspiring them to break away from their surroundings and make the difficult journey into academe.

Listening to rock bands sing "baby, baby, baby" might not have added to their vocabularies, and watching

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