Back in the university days, we used to sniff that a Ph.D. degree stood for “Piled Higher and Deeper”, sneering at snooty snobs who wore their “Doctor” badge like they were the Crown Kings and Queens of Academia. Which, of course, they were. But secretly, most of us wanted to get there too and most of us didn’t – not because we weren’t smart enough (yeah, sure) but because you actually had to really really study hard to get one of those.
The academic distinction of PhD actually stands for “Doctor of Philosophy” although – go figure - most PhDs are awarded for almost every other area of study besides Philosophy. It is the highest degree in a course of study that engages in original research to add to a body of knowledge. In other words, a bunch of scientific smarty-pants.
But what about, for example, non-scientific brainiac PhDs? What if they are, say, on an airplane and suddenly the Flight Attendant runs up to “Dr. Joe Blow” and says, “I notice on your boarding information that you are a Doctor, we need your help. There’s an emergency in Business Class.!” So Dr. Joe Blow, who has a PhD in Elizabethan Literature, has to say, “Does the emergency involve a problem parsing a Shakespearian sonnet?”
Don’t be ridiculous, I can hear you remarking, as if you expected anything else. People with PhDs in ‘The detrimental effects of melonworms on the growth cycle of generic butternut squash’ don’t go around calling themselves “Doctor So-and-So” on airplanes. Really? I would.
Anyway the real reason I’m on about PhD degrees is because I recently found out some incredible news! Guess what! If you are diligent, studious and nerdy enough to be awarded one of those high-falutin academic distinctions, you’ll be no doubt stoked to hear the good news. You can finally use those six to ten years of arduous research and exhaustive study to enter – you guessed it! - an International Dance Contest! Yes, I did say “Dance Contest”.
Believe it or not, it’s called “Dance Your Ph.D.” and it’s been sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science magazine since 2008. The idea is to “educate by expressing your research by explaining complex theories through interpretive dance”. The website says the entrants can, and I quote: “Achieve geek fame on the internet” and not only that, the proud academe winner can take home a stunning prize of $2000, which will almost pay for the first week of his eight years of university.
I have personally viewed several of the Dance Your Ph.D. winning entries online, and I must say, unequivocally, as an official ‘dance dad’ of a lifelong professional dancer, choreographer, and dance teacher, Rotten Kid and the Lesser Half of a former pro-dancer Better Half, I was gobsmacked by the Ph.D. dance videos.
They were, each and every one, absolutely, not to put too fine a point on it: terrible. As in really, really bad. Excruciatingly, embarrassingly awful. Exactly what you might think if you gave a bunch of geeky pen-protector cerebral nerds a camera and said, “Dance some science!” Imagine scientists dancing like molecules and singing mathematical equations.
But, hold on. Then I saw this year’s winning entry: The University of Helsinki’s Dr. Sulo Roukka’s “Insights into Oral Chemesthetic Perception,” which, as I’m sure you know, is how people react to chemical compounds that make food hot or cool. Dr. Roukka dresses up like a chilli pepper and dances to a funky original ‘Hot Hot Hot’, ‘Cool Cool Cool’ song with some ‘spicy’ Finnish dancers in disco lab coats. Cool stuff.
Dance Your PhD? It can be hot or cold.
Harley Hay is a Red Deer author and filmmaker. Reach out to Harley with any thoughts or ideas at harleyhay99@gmail.com.
