fan studies and fandom

In 2006’s Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, Henry Jenkins defines “convergence culture” as “the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want” (2). In contemporary culture, we are no longer merely passive consumers of media: we are participants in the narrative to the point where fans often actively influence outcomes and storylines well after a primary text has been released. J.K.

Since its first volume hit UK stores in 1997, Harry Potter has become a best-selling phenomenon that has forced readers and critics to reconsider how and what we read, and revolutionized the publishing industry from the bottom up.  With countless accolades and roughly 500 million English copies in print, eight feature films, with another on its way, and merchandise that continues to sell too well to be pulled from shelves, Harry Potter remains a fixed cultural icon 20 years on.

LOCATING IMAGINATION 

POPULAR CULTURE, TOURISM, AND BELONGING

APRIL 5-7 2017

ERASMUS UNIVERSITY ROTTERDAM

Keynote Speakers:

David Morley

David Crouch

Marie-Laure Ryan

Call for Papers

Apocalypse, Dystopia, and Disaster

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

38th Annual Conference, February 15-18, 2017

Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center

Albuquerque, New Mexico

http://www.southwestpca.org

Proposal submission deadline: November 1, 2016

Reading Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series, The Sandman, is like racing through a condensed combined curriculum in the classic humanities and modern cultural studies. This panel explores The Sandman as a work of art and as a manifold vision into human life as viewed within a vast cultural and cosmologicial framework. All critical perspectives (including cultural studies, pedagogy, and interdisciplinary approaches) are welcome. Please submit abstract  by 9/30/16 to <http://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/call for papers/submit/html> or check NEMLA Website.