Jeopardy show to feature Grand Valley faculty member

Tonight’s television episode of “Jeopardy” will feature Ashley Shannon, an assistant professor of English at Grand Valley, competing against Joon Pahk, a six-day champion going into the game. The show will air in West Michigan on Tuesday, October 11, at 7:30 p.m. on WWMT–TV.

Shannon can’t talk about the outcome until after the show airs, which she said has been difficult, since it was taped at the end of August in Los Angeles, after an earlier audition in New York.

“When you’re playing the game, everything is very intense and I only remember about half of what happened,” she said.  “I’m actually looking forward to watching the show.”

As a British literature professor, Shannon said she felt pretty confident about history and literature so she prepared for the show by brushing up on general topics like geography and past presidents. She said her competitor is an all-around nice guy, but definitely not someone she would have picked to play against. “He’s a competitive crossword puzzler, professional video-gamer and professor of physics,” she said.