Mythology’s final frontier: Are Scotty, Spock and the Starship Enterprise the new Classics?

Media Release, Monday 28 August 2006

A thesis which boldly goes where no thesis has gone before has won one of the University of Melbourne’s top academic prizes.

The dissertation Broadcast Space: TV Culture, Myth and Star Trek by Dr Djoymi Baker, a scholar from the School of Art History, Cinema, Classics and Archaeology, is one of four theses selected for a University of Melbourne’s Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD.

The awards, granted in four areas – Humanities and Creative Arts; Social Sciences; Science and Engineering;and Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences – were chosen from more than 480 doctorates successfully completed in 2005.

Dr Baker watched over 700 episodes – or more than 624 hours – of Star Trek and traveled to the United States to do archival research on TV programs from the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

Her research investigated how Star Trek drew on ancient mythology – such as Homer’s Odyssey – in its characterisations and storylines, and how during its 40-year history it has been able to adapt those myths and create its own myths.

It also examines how societies create and perpetuate myths, both in ancient times and in today’s popular culture.

“TV is a pervasive presence in our lives, and it is important to understand it because most of us see it in some form or another every day,” Dr Baker says. “Television both reflects and influences our society.”

“From the late 1940s onwards, TV programs updated myths in order to stress their connection with contemporary concerns, or even our aspirations for the future.

“Star Trek was an ideal focus for the study, because it had spin-offs over several decades and has been watched by millions of people around the world.

“I also see my thesis as a way of showing that Classics isn’t just about the past, but continues to be reinvented by each generation. Even in ancient Greece, myths evolved to suit changing times.”

The US academics who examined Dr Baker’s research described her thesis as “superlative”, with one saying he would use some of Dr Baker’s research in his own teaching.

Other Chancellor’s Prize winners were:

* Penelope Smith (Social Sciences), who used economic modeling to better understand business cycles in Australia and large Group of 7 economies – drawing information which is critical for setting fiscal and monetary policy.

* Martin de Jonge (Science and Engineering) whose work will lead to more incisive synchrotron x-ray studies that are 100 times more accurate than current levels.

Dr de Jonge is now working as a beam line manager at the Advanced Photon Source Synchotron in Chicago, one of the three largest synchotrons in the world. He will receive his award in December.

* Christopher Smith (Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences) who identified the cell which encourages the body’s immune system to fight the Herpes Simplex Virus.

The international standing of Dr Smith’s work was recognised in 11 international journals including Science and Nature Immunology.

Dr Smith is currently at Cambridge University studying other herpes viruses, which are involved in the development of cancer.

The Chancellor’s Prizes will be presented at a graduation and conferring ceremony at the University of Melbourne on August 24.