Does the bad economy actually help humanities professors get laid? One normally wouldn’t think so (or think the question worth asking) but apparently some members of the Modern Language Association (MLA) are trying to figure out if it does. According to an article in Inside Higher Ed at this year’s MLA meeting many are asking if anyone’s done any follow up research on last year’s panel on MLA sex, which in part looked at whether the depressing academic job market might actually help bring people together (all that free time that the unemployed have, common interests, a new willingness to compromise). According to the article:
We didn’t see any such research but a review of Craigslist personals suggests that some academics did have hopes for connections outside of the sessions and cash bars. Only when the MLA is in town will you find listings such as “Hot English dork here, looking to play with another hot English dork.”
Interesting idea, though “you want to come over to my apartment and eat ramen noodles while we watch Torn Curtain?” is perhaps a pickup line that leaves something to be desired.
