Well, um, thanks for bringing that up here, but of course I don't give the same defense of academic art/music fields; for those I would give a different defense.

Yes, one that fits in the class I described thusly:

classical music studies, whose advocates always find just the right excuse for why their field isn't refined enough to make itself applicable outside the ivory tower, or to anyone who isn't trying to say, "Look at me, plebes! I'm going to the opera!"

And re: Monty Python Studies:

There is.

God help us all.