Friday 22nd March-Saturday 23rd March
Harris Manchester College, Oxford
“It’s an interesting, exciting thing — if used wisely.” (Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling on fan interaction)
“Sharks are as tough as those football fans who take their shirts off during games in Chicago in January, only more intelligent.” (Dave Barry, writer and humourist)
Call For Proposals
The words ‘fan’ and ‘fandom’ often conjure up images that range from screaming groupies, supporters adorned in the colours of their favourite sports team and die-hard messageboard participants to stalkers and perpetrators of actual violence against the object of their fannish desires. Whether viewed as a positive or negative cultural force, fandom is so thoroughly inscribed in the social fabric and so central to the way many individuals understand their identity that it warrants closer study.
Inter-Disciplinary.Net is pleased to announce the launch of the Global Research Project on Fandom. Over the course of an ongoing series of events, the project will facilitate deeper engagements involving participants from across disciplinary and professional backgrounds in explorations of the nature, meaning and implications of fandom as it impacts individuals, fan communities and the societies in which they operate. For our inaugural event, we welcome the submission of proposals for research papers, short position papers, workshops and performances/installations dealing with any aspect of fans and fandom. Submissions may address any aspect of fandom, including but not limited to:
- Case studies of specific fans/fandoms
- Historical studies of fans/fandoms
- Multi-cultural/cross-cultural studies of fandom
- High culture vs. popular culture and alternative conceptualisations of fandom (theory fans, politics fans, etc.)
- Technologies of fandom
- Psychologies of fandom: pleasures, needs and harms
- Communal dynamics: use of language, ethnographies, behavioural analysis
- First-hand accounts of individual experiences within fandoms
- Pleasures and uses of anti-fandom
- Impact and social value of fandom
- Textual poaches/(un)authorized uses of texts
- Taxonomies of fandom
- Intersections between fandom and issues of gender/sexuality/race/nationality and other markers of identity
- Policing fans and fandoms
- Interfaces between fandom and celebrity/stardom
- Aca-fans
- Perceptions and representations of fandom in the media and creative arts
- Migrating fan communities
- The value of fandom studies
- Innovative methodologies for researching fandom
- Innovative pedagogies for teaching fan studies/using fandom as a teaching tool
- Entrepreneurial expressions of fandom
- Creative expressions of fandom (studies of fanfics, fanvids, fanart, etc.)
- Fan conventions and their significance
- Economics of fandom (monetisation, commodification, (dis)empowerment)
- Issues of gender, sexuality and class within fandom(s)
- Critiques of fans/fandom
Proposals of 300 words or less should be emailed jointly to the Organising Chairs with “fan1 Proposal” as the subject. Please include a) name of author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of presentation (e) body of proposal. We acknowledge receipt of all proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us within 48 hours you should resend. Deadline for submission is 20 February 2013. Abstracts submitted after this time may be considered and accepted subject to space available.
Organising Chairs
Dr Ann-Marie Cook: ten.yranilpicsid-retninull@cma
Dr Rob Fisher: ten.yranilpicsid-retninull@1naf
This event is part of the Global Research Initiative, whose aim is to bring together people from different disciplinary and professional backgrounds in an ongoing series of events dedicated to generating dialogue and research around the many facets of fandom. In light of the project’s emphasis on open engagement and discussion, there is an expectation that delegates attend all sessions and participate fully. A range of publishing opportunities are attached to this project and further details will be discussed during the Development Meeting at the end of the event.
We regret that as a not-for-profit network, Inter-Disciplinary.Net is not in a position to assist with conference travel or fee waivers.
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