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Dec. 31, 2015
While other UChicago students will be traveling to Paris, Beijing, and Oaxaca in the winter quarter, third-year Junior Kelsey Shippman will be immersing herself in perhaps the most foreignexotic location of all, Shondaland. Shondaland is —the highly complex television universe of producer Shonda Rhimes.
“Basically, I’m going to watch Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away With Murder, and Private Practice for a whole quarter,” Shippman said. “By applying rigorous inquiry to these shows, I hope too fully understand the fascinatingstrange world that Shonda has created.”
The decision to allow Shippman to do her semesterquarter abroad in Shondaland was not without controversy. Sarah Walter, Director of Study Abroad, noted that ultimately her department decided that Shondaland would fulfill the civilization sequence required by the Core.
Walter said, “The universe of Shondaland is so distinctive from the society we live in,” Walter said.. “The civilizationssocieties and cultures of Shondaland are so vivid, so multi-dimensional, and so realistic, that we felt that Kelsey would really need the whole quarter to truly understand them.”
However, Elana Kranz, the Associate Director, didn’t seem happy with the new study abroad option.
“She’s not even traveling anywhere,” Kranz said. “.Kelsey is just going live in the Crown House common room in a tangle of blankets all quarter. If binge watching conferred credit, we’d all havebe PhDs by now!”
Shipmentppman felt truly blessed to be one of the first scholars to study this field.
“I have so many research questions already,” Shippman said.. “Why are there only plot twists? How are these casts so diverse? How can one hospital experience so much drama? Do law students have any actual work? How do you actually get away with murder? Will Fitz and Olivia ever truly be together? How would Foucault feel about the cancellation of Private Practice? The list goes on and on, hopefully.”
