"Popular culture is rife with depictions of the hapless or even evil academic administrator, typically a dean. Most administrators know and regularly use the " double secret probation" line from the authoritarian and humorless Dean Wormer in Animal House (1978). In Old School (2003), Jeremy Piven portrayed a particularly noxious and conniving dean, who finally met his death when he was crushed by a car while fly fishing."
"Maybe the most accurate representation of a dean was the one portrayed by Oscar Nuñez in the 2023 TV drama Lucky Hank, a modernized version of an excellent academic satire, Richard Russo's Straight Man (1997). Constrained by a hapless president hell-bent on cutting faculty positions, and frustrated by turbulent and upset professors, again in the English Department, Dean Rose at least tries to muddle through with compassion."
"A year before Animal House's Dean Wormer, moviegoers were introduced to George Lucas's menacing dark side of the force in Star Wars. And today, when a promising colleague tries their hand at administration, some may say that they have "gone over to the dark side." Indeed, one of our old Ph.D. advisers (Jeff's) emailed him with that remark-and he certainly heard it from many others, too-when he took an associate dean role in 2013."
Popular culture frequently depicts academic deans as hapless, authoritarian, conniving, or kindly but ineffective figures. Iconic examples include Dean Wormer’s " double secret probation" authoritarianism and Old School’s conniving dean who meets a comic demise. Later portrayals soften the stereotype, as in The Chair’s well-meaning dean who misquotes Shakespeare and urges "butts in seats," and Lucky Hank’s Dean Rose, who is constrained by a president cutting positions yet tries to muddle through with compassion. The recurring image of administrators as having "gone over to the dark side" influences how colleagues view those who accept administrative roles. Senior faculty resistance can make change difficult, creating a need for deans to consult and lead effectively.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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