Study Popular Culture at Comic-Con 2017

Since 2007, members of this list have been graciously helping recruit undergraduate and graduate students interested in popular culture, marketing, and the media industries to participate in The Experience at Comic-Con. I am writing to ask you to invite interested students to visit www.powerofcomics.com/fieldstudy for information about the field study at next summer's Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA.

The one-week program (July 18-24, 2017) engages students as participant-observers of Comic-Con International, studying the intersection between mass marketing and fan cultural practices through ethnographic methods. Comic-Con is the perfect backdrop to delve into this crossroad as hundreds of vendors and over 125,000 fans gather there to exchange symbolic meaning - and currency! And while Comic-Con features comic books, manga, and graphic novels, students interested in all manner of popular culture can find something of interest to study at the Con, including anime, sci-fi, gaming, film, television, and much, much more. You can see more information about the Con itself at http://www.comic-con.org/cci/.

Students will also have the rather distinct opportunity to make a public presentation of their observations and tentative conclusions at the end of the week as a part of the Comics Arts Conference held in conjunction with Comic-Con. The field study is now sponsored by Radford University and taught by Matthew J. Smith, Professor of Communication, who can be reached at msmith455@radford.edu.

The deadline for applications this year is October 31. Thanks for your continued support!