‘Beckham studies,’ the graduate seminar
Filed in England on 11 December 2007 with no comments
David Beckham’s capacity to generate cultural comment (see Nov 20, Nov 7 and Jul 16 for three recent examples) and to bolster the CVs of tenure-track academics continues. UK- and France-based researchers Patricia Gaya Wicks, Agnes Nairn and Christine Griffin in the current Consumption, Markets and Culture choose Beckham for a case study on how the commodification of celebrities affects children’s moral development.
“What does this mean,” the authors write, “for children’s understanding of a global media culture which revolves around a culture of spectacle and commodified celebrity?” We should expect numerous citations to the late Jean Baudrillard.
Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, has campaigned to relocate the remains of goalkeeper-cum-existentialist Albert Camus from their resting place in Lourmarin. 
