Superdon

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A Superdon (or celebrity don) is an academic who repeatedly appears in television documentaries. The term is a portmanteau combining Superman and University Don. The term is a Briticism, and has no exact analogue in American English. The Teledon is a closely allied phenomenon.

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[edit] Examples

Many count Superdons as those who have appeared on TV repeatedly. On this basis the following could be considered:

[edit] In literature

  • Kingsley Amis' satires on University life makes reference to the phenomenon, but not by name, where lecturers seek fame to hold on to their positions and to try and achieve tenure.
  • 'Howard Kirk' was a fictional 'superdon' historian created by Malcolm Bradbury in his novel The History Man
  • In The Da Vinci Code, the protagonist, Robert Langdon, could be considered a misguided 'superdon'.

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] See also