Fat Studies?

lol college is hueg

now I know why I quit academe. what in the world? it's like a parody

Why is this funny?

"Robert Bucholz, a history professor at Loyola University, in Chicago, has spent years trying to figure out why Queen Anne, the British monarch who reigned from 1702 to 1714, has gotten so little attention. Britain prospered under her guardianship yet, “few people even think about her,” he said. Finally, he figured out why: She was fat.

“I didn’t even realize that what I was talking about was fat studies,” said Professor Bucholz, who presented a paper on the subject at the popular culture association’s meeting last month in Indianapolis. “I didn’t know that I was onto something that other people were onto.”"

well, it's like the patterns of inquiry don't change, only the focus.. it's not that he may not be OTM re: Queen Anne, it's that I don't see what justifies the emergence of an entire field of study based on such insights, I mean, you could pick any detail of physiognomy out of a 19th century novel and gin up a field, couldn't you? dangerous redheaded women studies.