Any high school graduate is familiar with the Bard’s old saw that “brevity is the soul of wit” (well, maybe not any high school graduate, but you get the point). Most people, however, are not aware of that particular proverb’s sister axiom: “Specificity is the soul of academia.” Yes indeed, the key to staking a place in the upper academic echelon is to find that one thing no one’s tackled before and then write reams upon reams about it. As for Barbara Jean Garrity-Blake’s 251-page dissertation, The fish factory: work and meaning for Black and White fishermen of the American menhaden industry, well, it’s doubtful that there are too many experts on the subject other than Barbara Jean Garrity-Blake.
Yes, we’ve scoured the UVA library for impenetrable, esoteric dissertations, and this anthropological study is among the cream of the crop. One can imagine being on Garrity-Blake’s thesis defense committee and furiously Googling “menhaden” while looking thoughtfully ahead (menhaden: noun; a shad-like North American marine fish used for fish meal and oil and fertilizer), but of course, that’s just the tip of this academic iceberg.
The dissertation’s online summary states that it looks at the relationship between white captains and black crews—juicy!—and “how each group has reacted to technology and conservation in the industry”—eh, not so juicy. But hey, if you’re looking for lyrics to your favorite menhaden fisherman sea chanty, the summary also promises those.
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