#fandom ic

[fanculturesfancreativity]

In my aimless wandering, I kept hoping to stumble across your class playlists. Help a peripatetic historian?

Sure! They’re all here: http://fanculturesfancreativity.tumblr.com/tagged/vid-show

[fanculturesfancreativity]

2016 Vidshow playlist...

…for UMM’s Fan Cultures and Fan Creativity class. Links go to streaming versions or posts with embedded streaming versions.

I Gotta Feeling by Elipie (Hamilton)

Marvel by Lim (Marvel cinematic universe)

Power by DayIn03 (Game of Thrones)

Handlebars by Flummery (Doctor Who)

Cut Like a Buffalo by kiki_miserychic (Empire)

Bloom in Adversity by Dogstar (Mulan)

Can’t Help Falling in Love by Barkley (football)

The Boy King by jmtorres (Supernatural)

Paper Planes by thedeadparrot (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Start the Commotion by Danegen (Leverage)

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out by ohvienna (Star Wars)

You’ve Got a Friend in Me by jagwriter78 (Lion King)

Warriors by jarrow (The 100)

Pompeii by Milly (The Martian)

Starships by bironic (multi)

Past vidshows: 2014, 2013

[fanculturesfancreativity]

Hey, UMM students.

(And other people too, I guess, if you’re willing to register as a non-degree-seeking student for UMM’s Summer 2016 term...)

GWSS 2001: Gender and Sexuality in Media Fandom is a go, and registration has started! Online only (so you can take the class from anywhere with Internet access), May 23 - June 24. Prerequisites: Intro to Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies OR Fan Cultures and Fan Creativity OR Gender in Literature -- or a demonstrated interest in GWSS or fandom (contact me for a permission number). Preference given to UMM students majoring or minoring in GWSS. Class is capped at 20.

Here’s the official course description:

Examine and analyze how genders and sexualities affect the social, critical, and creative practices of media fandom and are represented, negotiated, and transformed in fan fiction, vids, art, and other creative works. Readings include feminist and queer theories, fan studies scholarship, and fans’ essays about TV, film, and fandom itself.

That last sentence is key: we’re gonna be reading queer and feminist theory -- some classic, some recent -- and connecting it to the everyday practices of media fandom. We’ll be asking What can feminist and queer theories help us understand about fans and fandom? but also What can fans and fandom tell us about the value and limits of feminist and queer theories? If reading theory isn’t something you’re willing to do, do us all a favor and don’t enroll, okay? If, on the other hand, you think theory might be interesting as long as you get to use it to talk about fandom, I have just the class for you.

My approach to feminism is intersectional, which means we’ll be thinking and talking about other identity categories that intersect with gender, including not just sexuality but also race, class, and age -- and possibly more, depending on what readings I can fit into the schedule. 

The first half of the class will be pretty tightly planned, both because there are some concepts and authors we need to cover and because I want us to establish a shared vocabulary. The second half, though, will be more free-form and directed by students’ interests and questions.

Questions? Send ‘em to my ask box.

[fanculturesfancreativity]

bizarrekitten replied to your post:…aaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back! Just in time for the...

i will be very glad to have you on my dash again. unfortunately i am stuck in vermont this semester and won’t be able to participate in anything in person

TBH, I’m not sure how many in-person things will be going on anyway, since I am ON SABBATICAL \o/ and will be working at home 99% of the time rather than going to campus. So odds are you will not miss much... unless somebody organizes something with Orlando Jones, in which case I had better be invited. 

[secrtfrnd]

actually yeah one time I was up late writing a paper with katrine and we found out the on campus coffee shop had gummy letters so we bought a bunch and set out spell bad things like the third graders we are anywho we ended up spelling out "fuck this paper" on a copy of the syllabus for it and when we showed our professor she seemed amused by it??? and I'm pretty sure they were cool with it? she also invited us to watch fanvids and pet cats at her house at the end of the semester and this sounds totally fake but I swear on my love for dogs this is true

[awkwardqueerhedgehog]

Remember when theorlandojones Skyped my fanculturesfancreativity class? Yea....me too..it was a great day...

[fanculturesfancreativity]

How did your class go this semester?

I had a good time, personally. I shared some stuff I knew, learned some stuff I hadn’t known, got some very thoughtful suggestions about how to make the class better next time around, and came up with some ideas for a 2000-level online summer course focused on gender and sexuality in media fandom. More than half the class showed up at my house for the end-of-semester party. And many of the students indicated, whether in their papers or in conversation with me, that our readings and discussions helped give them a broader perspective on fandom history and fan practices and/or gave them language for things they'd already noticed but had felt unable to fully articulate. So, on the whole, I’d call it a win.

Of course, my perspective is not the whole story. Some students clearly enjoyed the course, some were annoyed by it and/or by me, some resented that I expected them to (gasp!) do work, and some I could not for the life of me get a read on—obviously, opinions varied; but that kind of variation is normal in most classes, certainly in classes that fulfill general education requirements.

Anyone who was actually in the class should feel free to comment with their own opinions and insights. I should note that using this platform will inevitably skew the sample, since participants who’ve chosen to keep following this Tumblr presumably found the class more interesting than not. :)

[awkwardqueerhedgehog]

Fan scholars, John Tulloch and aforementioned Henry Jenkins’ interpretations on fan are one that is vastly different from what popular media perpetuates, and is still accepted by fans and viewed as more accurate. It is where I derived my own definition of fan. They say there is a “distinction between fans, active participants within fandom… and followers, audience members who regularly watch and enjoy media… but who claim no larger social identity” (23). This spectrum between casual viewing and active participation allows for more people to say they are fans, without having to know everything about the source material. Popular media tends to depict fans as individuals who know the source material down to its bare bones, and yes, there are fans that are like that, but only because of multiple re-watchings of the source material and hours spent devoted to writing or analyzing meta for the source. However, those who are not as knowledgeable about the source media can still identify as fans, according to Tulloch and Jenkins through the casual viewer definition of fan. Their idea of fan brings up an interesting argument: if anyone can turn on the TV and devote an hour or so of their time to a show, does that still make them a fan? By popular media standards, no, that individual would be considered normal, just someone who watches a show without developing an emotional attachment. From a fan’s point of view, the answer is a little fuzzy. At its base, the answer lies in whether or not the show has prompted continuous watching. If the show has drawn an individual in, the question leads to whether or not that continuous viewing has led to the development of an attachment to a certain character, or the individual is discontent with the way the show has gone. If so, a fan looking in would say, “Yep, they’re one of us now. Here, have some fic. We’ll be back to check on them in a few hours.” Even if the pre-fan hasn’t gone online looking for transformative work, other fans would still consider that individual a fan, because of the consecutive watching.

From “‘Get a Life!’ We already have One! Fan Perceptions from the Media and Beyond” -Katrine S (unpublished) in response to a proper definition of fan