Here is a YouTube video describing our Jersey Shore Research Agenda.

Jersey Shore, perhaps unintentionally, created an intriguing societal Situation. It’s cultural impact exceeded all foreseeable expectations. 2010 was the year of Jersey Shore. But why has Jersey Shore, ostensibly run-of-the-mill reality show trash, generated such a profound impact on American culture. The cast of the Jersey Shore–the salacious Snooki, the complicated Situation, the belligerent JWoww, the diplomatic DJ Pauly D, the evolving Vinny, the choleric Angelina, and the violently-in-love Sammi and Ron–represent certain literary archetypes that appeal to society as a whole. In this research agenda, we aim to analyze the travails of Jersey Shore through several lenses–legal, literary, and sociological. Jersey Shore’s critical impact on our society, and perhaps most importantly, its prominence in our cultural zeitgeist makes it an ideal scholarly vehicle to explore these important theoretical doctrines. We aim to explore these issues in a series of YouTube videos, as well as a scholarly article.

This agenda has been produced by Josh Blackman and Militza Machuca Franco.  Our work is dedicated to Amerigo Vespucci, the “original” Italian-American.