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Home , Fan labor, Francesca Coppa, Karen Hellekson, Vidding

MWF 10:00-11:00am (BMC 3.206) + Screening M 5-7:30pm (CMA 3.120) Instructor: Dr. Suzanne Scott [email protected] • @iheartfatapollo

Office hours: W 11:30am-2:30pm in CMA 5.144

Teaching Assistant: Ceci Moffett • [email protected] Meetings by appointment

Course tumblr: RTFfanculture.tumblr.com Course twitter hashtag: #RTFfanculture

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Over the past decade, fans have been transformed from a stigmatized subculture into a mainstream power demographic, catered to and courted by media industries. This course will survey studies from the 1990s to the present, with an emphasis on within convergence culture and digital fan cultures and practices, from fanfiction to fantasy football. Using gender as a critical axis, this course will consider the lingering impact of ’ roots in feminist and queer media studies, and contemplate how gender shapes our discussions of , fan representations, fannish taste, modes of fan performance and production, and industry-audience power dynamics. Finally, this course will consider what forms of identity work have been elided or marginalized as a result of the field’s focus on gender as its central critical axis, in an effort to move towards a more intersectional conception of fan identity and fan studies. In addition to critically analyzing fans' transformative works, students will mobilize course concepts to produce and theorize fan texts of their own.

COURSE GOALS: • To become conversant in the core theoretical concerns of fan studies • To critically engage the gendered politics of participation within fan culture • To consider the how media industries, media representations, emergent technologies, and fans themselves shape these politics of participation • To create and contemplate fannish transformative works as a form of media criticism

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS: Details on all your course assignments, including instruction handouts, submission guidelines, and due dates, can be found under the “Assignments” tab of our course’s Canvas site. I would encourage (nay, insist) that you plug all these due dates into your personal calendars now, to help manage your workflow.

Your final grade for the course will consist of five elements/assignments, enumerated below:

First, your attendance and active participation (10%) is central to the class’ success and to your success in the class. If you have a legitimate reason for missing class (e.g. religious holiday, illness, family emergency), please email the TA with as much advance warning as possible. Time will be allotted to discuss your response to the readings and screenings, but you’re encouraged to post or reblog any additional material you come across that you think might be relevant to the class (blog posts, videos, articles, etc.) to our collective Tumblr. This will also earn you participation credit, so it’s a good option if you’re not comfortable speaking up in class (just make sure to # your fan pseudonym so we can identify your post and give you credit). You can also send me comments and relevant links via Twitter @iheartfatapollo, using our course hashtag (#RTFfanculture).

You will be tested on the course materials (including readings, lectures, and screenings) once during the semester. This Exam (25%) will cover content from weeks 1-10, and will be comprised of short identifications and essay questions. In addition to the exam, you have three major assignments: a series of Tumblr posts (you will select 3 of 4 options, worth 5% each for 15% total, and because this is a writing flag course, you will have the option to rewrite ONE of these posts), a transformative fan work (20%) of your own creation and author’s statement theorizing this project through course concepts, and a final research project (30%) which will consist of both a 10 minute presentation (10%) and a 10-15 page research paper (20%) on a topic of your choosing. More detailed instructions for all of these assignments are available through Canvas.

All assignments must be handed in on time, and turning in assignments late will be detrimental to your grade. For each week an assignment is late, you will be docked one full letter grade. All assignments must be completed to pass the course. Exceptions will be made and extensions will be given only for medical or family emergencies (provided you can offer documentation).

Grading breakdown: Attendance/Participation = 10% Tumblr Posts = 15% Transformative Fan Work = 20% Exam = 25% Final Presentation + Project = 30%

Grading Scale: A = 100-94 A- = 90-93 B+ = 87-89 B = 84-86 B- = 80-83 C+ = 77-79 C = 74-76 C- = 70-73 D = 60-69 F = 0-59

REQUIRED READINGS: Readings are listed below on the course schedule; assigned chapters and articles are to be read before class, and you should be prepared to discuss them and pose relevant questions. The weekly readings are available in our course text (see below), on the course’s Canvas site, under “Files” OR will be linked directly through the syllabus. You can download and print out each article at your convenience, along with other course documents. PLEASE NOTE: Online/linked readings will NOT appear on Canvas, so double check the syllabus each week to ensure you’re completing all of the readings. We have one require book for this course, which is available at the bookstore:

Ø , Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture (20th Anniversary Edition) (New York: Routledge, 2012) Ø , The Fanfiction Reader: Folk Tales for the Digital Age (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2017)

WRITING FLAG: This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete substantial writing projects, and receive feedback from your instructor to help you improve your writing. You will also have the opportunity to revise one or more assignments, and you may be asked to read and discuss your peers’ work. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work. Writing Flag classes meet the Core Communications objectives of Critical Thinking, Communication, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility, established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. 2

CULTURAL DIVERSITY FLAG: This course carries the flag for Cultural Diversity in the United States. Cultural Diversity courses are designed to increase your familiarity with the variety and richness of the American cultural experience. You should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from assignments covering the practices, beliefs, and histories of at least one U.S. cultural group that has experienced persistent marginalization.

SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HONOR CODE: The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the University is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.

MOODY COLLEGE WRITING SUPPORT PROGRAM: The Moody College Writing Support Program, located in BMC 3.322, offers one-on-one assistance without charge to undergraduates seeking to improve their professional writing in all fields of communication. We have student specialists in Journalism, RTF, CSD, CMS, Communication & Leadership and PR & Advertising. In addition, we offer workshops to strengthen core writing skills in each field and to inspire students to strive for excellence. Students may guarantee their time by booking half-hour appointments on our website for assistance during all stages of the writing process. Writing coaches also will take drop-ins if they are not working with appointments.

SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY: The University defines as cheating, , unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or an extension on a test, quiz, or other assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor. By accepting this syllabus, you have agreed to these guidelines and must adhere to them. Scholastic dishonest damages both the student’s learning experience and readiness for the future demands of a work-career. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. For more information on scholastic dishonesty, please visit the Student Judicial services Web site at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: Taking care of your general well-being is an important step in being a successful student. If stress, test anxiety, racing thoughts, feeling unmotivated or anything else is getting in your way, there are options available for support. For immediate support: - Visit/Call the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC): M-F 8-5p | SSB, 5th floor | 512- 471-3515 | cmhc.utexas.edu - CMHC Crisis Line: 24/7 | 512.471.2255 | cmhc.utexas.edu/24hourcounseling.html

CARE Counselor in the Moody College of Communication is: Abby Simpson, LCSW - CMA 4.134 | 512-471-7642 (Please leave a message if she is unavailable)

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FREE Services at CMHC: - Brief assessments and referral services - Mental health & wellness articles - cmhc.utexas.edu/commonconcerns.html - MindBody Lab - cmhc.utexas.edu/mindbodylab.html - Classes, workshops, & groups - cmhc.utexas.edu/groups.html

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1 • Introduction to the Course Wednesday, 8/29 Course Overview + Cohort Introductions

Friday, 8/31 Grokking Fan Studies Read: - Jonathan Gray, Cornel Sandvoss, and C. Lee Harrington, “Introduction: Why Study Fans?”

Due: - Accept Tumblr invite, familiarize yourself with Tumblr dashboard + email Tumblr tag/fan pseudonym to Prof. Scott and TA (by 9/1)

Week 2 • Framing Fan Studies: On Ethics and Intersectionality Monday, 9/3 Labor Day: NO CLASS

Wednesday, 9/5 Best Practices for Studying Fans Read: - Kristina Busse, “The Ethics of Studying Online Fandom”

Friday, 9/7 Intersectionality and Fan Identity Read: - Rebecca Wanzo, “African American acafandom and other strangers: New genealogies of fan studies”

Due: - Tumblr Post: Option #1 (posted by 9/9 at 10pm)

Week 3 • From Pathology to Poaching Monday, 9/10 Fandom as (Gendered) Pathology Read: - Joli Jensen, “Fandom as Pathology: The Consequences of Characterization” Screening: Misery (1990)

Wednesday, 9/12 Fandom as Textual Poaching Read: - Henry Jenkins, “‘Get a Life!’: Fans, Poachers, Nomads” [TP]

Friday, 9/14 Forms of Fan Production Read: - John Fiske, “The Cultural Economy of Fandom”

Due: - Tumblr Post: Option #2 (posted by 9/16 at 10pm)

Week 4 • Fandom and/as Resistance Monday, 9/17 Complicating the “Fan Consumer” Read: - Matt Hills, “Fan Cultures between Consumerism and ‘Resistance’” Screening: (1997)

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Wednesday, 9/19 Gender and Subcultures Read: - Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber, “Girls and Subcultures”

Friday, 9/21 Queer Readings Read: - Alexander Doty, “There’s Something Queer Here”

Week 5 • Transformative Works I: Monday, 9/24 Fanfic Read: - Henry Jenkins, “Scribbling in the Margins: Fan Readers/Fan Writers” [TP] - Listen to the Fansplaining Podcast’s Fanfiction episode Screening: (“Amok Time,” 1967) Supernatural (“The Monster at the End of This Book,” 2009) Bob’s Burgers (“The Equestranauts,” 2014)

Wednesday, 9/26 Slash Read: - Henry Jenkins, “Welcome to Bisexuality, Captain Kirk: Slash and the Fan-Writing Community” [TP]

Friday, 9/28 Discussion of Fanfic and Subgenres Read: - Read the following from Francesca Coppa’s The Fanfiction Reader: “Introduction: Five Things That Fanfiction Is, and One Thing It Isn’t,” Plus 2 additional stories of your choosing along with Coppa’s framing/introduction of each)

Week 6 • Transformative Works II: Monday, 10/1 Origins and History Read: - Francesca Coppa, “Women, ‘Star Trek,’ and the early development of fannish viding” Screening: Vid show (submit any favorites via email by 9/30) Consultations on transformative fan work project

Wednesday, 10/3 Vidding, Then and Now Read: - Henry Jenkins, “‘Layers of Meaning’: Fan and the Poetics of Poaching” [TP] - Julie Levin Russo, “User-Penetrated Content: Fan Video in the Age of Convergence”

Friday, 10/5 Fan Ecologies and Read: - Tisha Turk and Joshua Johnson, “Toward an ecology of vidding”

Due: - Tumblr Post: Option #3 (posted by 10/7 at 10pm)

Week 7 • Affirmational Fan Practices Monday, 10/8 Collecting and Collective Intelligence Read: - Lincoln Geraghty, “Masculine Pursuits?: Gender, Generation and the Fan Collector” Screening: The Big Bang Theory (“The Bakersfield Expedition,” 2013) Comic Book Men (“Trivia Chew-Off,” 2014) 5

Master and Apprentice (“Blade Runner Retinal Scanner,” 2017)

Wednesday, 10/10 Material Fan Practices Read: - Bob Rehak, “From Model Building to 3D Printing: Star Trek and Build Code Across the Analog/Digital Divide”

Friday, 10/12 Fan Merchandise and Fashion Read: - Elizabeth Affuso, “Everyday Costume: Feminized Fandom, Retail, and Beauty Culture”

Due: Tumblr Post: Option #4 (posted by 10/14 at 10pm)

Week 8 • Fannish Gift Economies and Fan Labor as “Women’s Work” Monday, 10/15 Fandom and/as Read: - , “A Fannish Field of Value: Online Fan Gift Culture” - Abigail De Kosnik, “Should Fan Fiction Be Free?” Screening: South Park (“Tweek x Craig, 2015) Heroes of (“Emerald City,” 2013)

Wednesday, 10/17 Regifting Economies Read: - Suzanne Scott, “Repackaging Fan Culture: The Regifting Economy of Ancillary Content Models”

Friday, 10/19 Fandom and/as Promotional Labor Read: - Lesley Willard, “From co-optation to commission: A diachronic perspective on the development of fannish literacy through Teen Wolf's Tumblr promotional campaigns”

Due: Transformative Work + Artist’s Statement (due 10/21 by 10pm)

Week 9 • Fan Platforms Monday, 10/22 How Platforms Shape Fan Participation Read: - Mel Stanfill, “The Interface as Discourse: The Production of Norms Through Web Design” Screening: Livetweet (Show TBD in week 8)

Wednesday, 10/24 How Fan Identities Shape Platforms Read: - Dayna Chatman, “Black Twitter and the Politics of Viewing Scandal”

Friday, 10/26 The Visual Turn in Fan Culture (or, let’s talk about GIFs) Read: - Louisa Stein, “Tumblr Fan Aesthetics”

Week 10 • Music Fandom Monday, 10/29 Boy bands and the politics of screaming Read: - Mark Duffett, “I Scream Therefore I Fan? Music Audiences and Affective Citizenship” Screening: Heavy Metal Parking Lot (1986) 6

Selections from Crazy about One Direction (2013) Selection of k-pop music videos

Wednesday, 10/31 K-pop Read: - Chuyun Oh, “Queering spectatorship in K-pop: The androgynous male dancing body and western female fandom”

Friday, 11/2 Participatory Frontiers in Music Fandom Read: - Liza Potts, “Amanda Palmer and the #LOFNOTC: How online fan participation is rewriting music labels”

Due: Research Project Proposal (11/4 by 10pm via email)

Week 11 • Anti-fandom + Exam Monday, 11/5 Anti-fandom and the politics of taste Read: - Jonathan Gray, “New Audiences, New Textualities” Screening: Optional exam review session

Wednesday, 11/7 Exam (Part I: Identifications)

Friday, 11/9 Exam (Part II: Essay Questions)

Week 12 • Sports Fandom Monday, 11/12 Situating sports within fan studies Read: - Jon Kraszewski, “Pittsburgh in Fort Worth: Football Bars, Sports Television, Sports Fandom, and the Management of Home” Screening: The League (“Vegas Draft,” 2010) Fever Pitch (2005)

Wednesday, 11/14 Fantasy Sports Read: - Luke Howie and Perri Campbell, “Fantasy Sports: Socialization and Gender Relations”

Friday, 11/16 Gender and Sports Fandom Read: - Victoria E. Johnson, “‘Together We Make Football’: The NFL’s ‘Feminine’ Discourses”

Due: Work on your final projects and presentations Final day to submit tumblr post rewrite (by 11/18) Sign up for presentation slots (11/18 via googledoc)

Week 13 • Fan Activism + Thanksgiving Break Monday, 11/19 Fan Activism Read: - Kristen Warner, “(Black Female) Fans Strike Back: The Emergence of the Iris West Defense Squad” Screening: NO SCREENING

Wednesday, 11/21 NO CLASS

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Friday, 11/23 NO CLASS

Week 14 • “Toxic” Fan Culture and “Fan Entitlement” Monday, 11/26 Representational Diversity, Notalgia, and Fan Privilege Read: - William Proctor and Bridget Kies, “On toxic fan practices and the new culture wars” - Devon Faraci, “Fandom is Broken” Screening: Rick and Morty (“The Rickshank Redemption,” 2017) Black Mirror (“USS Callister,” 2017)

Wednesday, 11/28 Hypermasculine Fan Cultures: Comics and Video Games Read: - Suzanne Scott, “Fangirls in Refrigerators: The Politics of (in)Visibility in Comic Book Culture” - Janine Fron, Tracy Fullerton, Jacquelyn Ford Morie, and Celia Pearce, “The Hegemony of Play”

Friday, 11/30 Queerbaiting Read: - Eve Ng, “Between Text, Paratext, and Context: Queerbaiting and the Contemporary Media Landscape”

Due: Work on your final projects and presentations

Week 15 • Final Project Presentations Monday, 12/3 Presentations: Group 1 Screening: Presentations: Group 2

Wednesday, 12/5 Presentations: Group 3

Friday, 12/7 Presentations: Group 4

Week 16 • State of the Fandom Monday, 12/10 There and back again, a course postmortem Read: - Constance Grady, “Why We’re Terrified of Fanfiction” - Adam Epstein, “Internet Fandom is Running Hollywood”

Due: - Final research paper (PDF via email 12/10 by 10pm)

Fan Studies Bibliography: Selected Works

Abercrombie, Nicholas, and Brian Longhurst. Audiences: A Sociological Theory of Performance and Imagination. London: SAGE, 1998.

Aden, Roger C. Popular stories and promised lands: Fan cultures and symbolic pilgrimages. Tuscaloosa: Univ. of Alabama Press, 1999.

Ang, Ien. Watching Dallas: Soap Operas and the Melodramatic Imagination. New York: Routledge, 1989.

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Baym, Nancy K. Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom, and Online Community. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2000.

Bacon-Smith, Camille. Enterprising Women: Television Fandom and the Creation of Popular Myth. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1992.

———. Culture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.

Booth, Paul. Digital Fandom: New Media Studies. New York: Lang, 2010.

———. Playing Fans: Negotiating Fandom and Media in the Digital Age. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2015.

Brooker, Will. Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Fans. New York: Continuum, 2002.

Bury, Rhiannon. Cyberspace of Their Own: Female Online. New York: Peter Lang, 2005.

Busse, Kristina, and Karen Hellekson, ed. The Fan Fiction Studies Reader. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2014.

Cavicchi, Daniel. Tramps Like Us: Music and Meaning Amongst Springsteen Fans. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Click, Melissa, and Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, and Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, ed. Bitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, and the Vampire Franchise. New York: Peter Lang, 2010.

Crawford, Garry. Consuming Sport: Sports, Fans, and Culture. New York: Routledge, 2004.

De Certeau, Michel. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1984.

Doty, Alexander. Making Things Perfectly Queer: Interpreting Mass Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.

———. Flaming classics: Queering the film canon. New York: Routledge, 2000.

Duffett, Mark. Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture. London: Bloomsbury, 2013.

Fiske, John. Television Culture. New York: Routledge, 1987.

———. Reading The Popular. New York: Routledge, 1989.

———. Understanding Popular Culture. Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1989.

Geraghty, Lincoln. Cult Collectors: Nostalgia, Fandom, and Collecting Popular Culture. New York: Routledge, 2014. 9

Gray, Jonathan, and Cornel Sandvoss, and C. Lee Harrington, ed. Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World. New York: Press, 2007.

Harris, Cheryl, and Alison Alexander, ed. Theorizing Fandom: Fans, Subculture and Identity. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 1998.

Hellekson, Karen, and Kristina Busse, ed. Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006.

Hills, Matt. Fan Cultures. London: Routledge, 2002.

Hugenberg, Lawrence W., and Paul M. Haridakis, ed. Sports Mania: Essays on Fandom and the Media in the 21st Century. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2008.

Ito, Mimi, and Daisuke Okabe, and Izumi Tsuji, ed. Fandom Unbound: Culture in a Connected World. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

Jamison, Anne. Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World. Dallas: BenBella Books, 2013.

Jenkins, Henry. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. New York: Routledge, 1992.

———. Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers. New York: New York University Press, 2006.

———. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006.

Jenkins, Henry, and Sam Ford, and Joshua Green. Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. New York: New York University Press, 2013.

Kelly, William, ed. Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan. New York: State University of New York Press, 2004.

Lancaster, Kurt. Interacting with Babylon 5: Fan Performances in a Media Universe. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 2001.

Lefanu, Sarah. Feminism and Science Fiction. Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1989.

Lewis, Lisa A., ed. The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media. London: Routledge, 1992.

Penley, Constance. NASA/Trek: Popular Science and Sex in America. New York: Verso, 1997.

Porter, David. Internet Culture. New York: Routledge, 1997.

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Pustz, Matthew J. Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999.

Radway, Janice. Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1984.

Ross, Sharon Marie, and Louisa Stein, ed. Teen Television: Essays on Programming and Fandom. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2008.

Sanders, Joseph L., ed. . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994.

Sandvoss, Cornel. A Game of Two Halves: Football Fandom, Television, and Globalization. New York: Routledge, 2003.

———. Fans: The Mirror of Consumption. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2005.

Stein, Louisa Ellen, and Kristina Busse, ed. Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom: Essays on the BBC Series. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2012.

Stein, Louisa Ellen. Millenial Fandom: Television Audience in the Transmedia Age. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2015.

Tulloch, John, and Henry Jenkins. Science Fiction Audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek. London: Routledge, 1995.

Williams, Rebecca. Post-Object Fandom: Television, Identity, and Self-Narrative. New York: Bloomsbury, 2015.

Yaffe, Deborah. Among the Janeites: A Journey Through the World of Jane Austen Fandom. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2013.

Zubernis, Lynn, and Katherine Larsen. Fandom at the Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/Producer Relationships. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012.

A Selection of Academic Journals that Routinely Feature Fan Studies

Transformative Works and Culture

Journal of Fandom Studies

Participations: International Journal of Audience Research

Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media

New Media & Society

Television & New Media

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Convergence

International Journal of Cultural Studies

Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture

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