In This is Spinal Tap, David St. Hubbins shows Marty DiBergi a tape from the "Namesakes" series, in which celebrities read works by authors with the same last name. For example, Denham Elliott reads T.S. Eliot and Dr. J reads the collected works of Washington Irving.

What if you ran an "intro to theory and pop culture" course along similar lines? Each unit features a theorist discussed in class and related to a namesake in pop culture:

• Walter Benjamin on Andre Benjamin
• Gregory Ulmer on James Blood Ulmer
• Frederic Jameson on Jenna Jameson
• Helen Benedict on Pope Benedict

• Marshall McLuhan on Sarah McLaughlin
• Kate Hayles on John Sayles
• Gilles Deleuze on Dom DeLuise