Sarah Palin Appointed Visiting Scholar at Harvard
Former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has joined Harvard University as a visiting scholar. According to anÂ officialÂ press release, the conservative pundit and reality television starÂ will teach four courses over three years at Harvard's prestigiousÂ KennedyÂ School of GovernmentÂ in Cambridge, Mass., beginningÂ in fall 2013. The transition to academia comes just weeks after Palin was unceremoniously released form her contract at Fox News,Â which had served as her primary source of income since 2009. The former Alaskan governor will focus her classes on topics close to her heart, including the war on terror, welfare reform, U.S. evangelicals, and oil and gas development. She will also join Harvard's Consortium for Energy Policy Research, and is expected toÂ contribute several peer-reviewed research papers concerning the economic efficiency of Alaska's oil-fundedÂ sovereignÂ wealth fund. IntellectualÂ Elan Some have reacted with surprise to Palin's move to academic life, given her public reputation as an anti-intellectual. However, David T. Ellwood, the dean of Harvard's Â Kennedy School, says there is nothing unusual about the appointment. "World-class universities routinely hire former high-level publicÂ officialsÂ to teach courses on a visiting basis," Ellwood says. "We already have formerÂ counter-terrorismÂ czar Richard Clarke on staff. Spain's ex-prime minister taught at Georgetown. And Tony Blair teaches at Yale. "As a former governor and a major-party nominee for vice president, Mrs. Palin is certainly a high-level figure. And the Kennedy School will benefit greatly from herÂ knowledgeÂ and experience." Palin has reportedly already been spotted house hunting in the Beacon HillÂ neighborhoodÂ of Boston. Local real estate agent Phillip Dunphy says she toured a $3 million townhouse on Chestnut Street just last week. "We showed Mrs. Palin a great place," Dunphy says, "but it didn't have a big enough mantle for a moose head, so she declined to make an offer." Matanuska Maid According to the press release Palin's course topics seem quite advanced, with a heavy emphasis on the practical application of political philosophy. The list of her courses includes Despite the impressiveÂ curricula, some Harvard students are skeptical aboutÂ theirÂ new professor's ability to deliver theÂ intellectuallyÂ challenging experience they've come to expect. "Sarah Palin?," exclaims a shocked Dalia Richmond, a second-year masters student in public policy. "The same woman who said her foreign policy experience is seeing Russia from her house? What's she qualified to teach? How to tie a shoe?" Palin's new role as a professor will finally put to rest the rumors, first reported in theÂ WashingtonÂ Post, that she would be joining Al-Jazeera as a on-airÂ commentator. A spokesperson for Palin said that the governor was "thrilled" to be working at Harvard, and hoped to bring a little "Wasilla main street" to the Ivy Towers of America's most venerated university. When contacted by The Daily Currant, Harvard declined to provide information on Palin's salary and benefit package.