European Fandom and Fan Studies Calls for Papers

Comic Fans, TV fans, film fans  - you're being studied! European Fandom and Fan Studies, a one day symposium, will take place on 10th November 2012 at the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis and University of Amsterdam Department of Media Studies - and they have just issued their "Call for Papers".


The symposium will be held in the centre of Amsterdam, easily accessible from Amsterdam international airport.

Fan Studies is growing but primarily focused in North America. This one day symposium at the University of Amsterdam seeks to explore the state of Fan Studies and the variety of Fandoms focussed within the broader social and geographical boundaries of Europe.

Inter-disciplinary papers are invited to explore the nature of the field itself or how different fandoms function within Europe. Potential avenues of exploration may include how Fan Studies is represented, studied, and received within European universities, by funding bodies and publishers.

Papers on Fandoms may explore how European (English and non-English speaking) fans of European and non-European objects of fan appreciation participate in fandom, the differences between internet fandoms and local/national/international fan practices, and the different objects of fan appreciation.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Transformative Works
• Fan History
• Fan Infrastructures
• Fan Charity and Activism
• Fan Cultures and Identities
• Impact on Public Policy and Industry Practice
• Economies within Fandom and/or Fan Studies
• Students as Fans
• Fan Studies within Higher Education courses
• Crossing national, cultural, and language boundaries in Fandom and Fan Studies

The symposium is associated with a special issue of the Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures tentatively slated for 2015, with full papers due 1st January, 2014 (now that's what I call planning ahead).

Transformative Works and Cultures  is an international, peer-reviewed journal published by the Organization for Transformative Works. TWC publishes articles about transformative works, broadly conceived; articles about media studies; and articles about the fan community. 

 

Aside from this planned project, the organisation has a general invite for papers in all areas, including fan fiction, fan vids, film, TV, anime, comic books, fan community, video games, and machinima.

• Submission Process:  Please send a 300 word abstract along with a short (100 word) biographical note to Anne Kustritz (A.M.KustritzATuva.nl) or Emma England (E.E.EnglandATuva.nl) by 10 September 2012