Asian and Asian American Fan Studies

3 credits · Undergraduate

This course introduces students to the academic field of fan and audience studies. While we will read broadly in fan studies, including foundational texts beginning in the 1990s, the course will focus on the field's growing attention to transcultural fandoms and the experiences of fans of color. In particular, this course will attend to the significant place of Asian, primarily East Asian, fandoms in broader theorizations of transmedia storytelling, fannish co-creation, and fandom's social practices. This course will also focus on studies of Asian American audiences, as well as broader audiences of Asian American cultural products, in light of the global popularity of Asian and Asian American media, celebrities, beauty, and food cultures in the 21st century.