Aca/fan
I am an “aca/fan.” This is a term I first heard used by Henry Jenkins, the director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and generally very cool, nice guy. And so I’ll leave the definition of the term to him:
Textual Poachers and much of my subsequent work has been written from the perspective of an Aca/Fan — that is, a hybrid creature which is part fan and part academic (hence the current, provisional title of this blog). The goal of my work has been to bridge the gap between these two worlds. I take it as a personal challenge to find a way to break cultural theory out of the academic bookstore ghetto and open up a larger space to talk about the media that matters to us from a consumer’s point of view. This philosophy has governed my various stabs at journalism and public advocacy and they are what are motivating me to develop a personal blog.
I self-identify this way as well. I adore fan studies. I adore cultural critique. I adore media analysis. You’ll see a a lot of discussion of popular culture, especially media, books and games on this blog.
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