Dr Rebecca Williams
@augustaquarius.bsky.social
Associate Professor / Creative Industries R&I Lead at University of South Wales. @fanstudies.bsky.social Board Member. Transmedia Tourism • Theme Parks • Disney • Participatory Cultures • Media Endings 💻 https://linktr.ee/drrebeccawilliams
Today we're thrilled to publish our first book excerpt! An essay on gender, performance, and Bachelor fandom from critic and novelist @ilanaslightly.bsky.social, the co-editor of "Here for All the Reasons: Why We Watch The Bachelor":
The Bachelor and the Fantasy of Performance
In Here for All the Reasons: Why We Watch The Bachelor, Ilana Masad imagines competing on the show as her straightest, most impossible self.
fansplaining.com
T&T alum Carissa Baker recently published "Encounters in wartime: interactive technology and storytelling for digital heritage." Check it out! www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Encounters in wartime: interactive technology and storytelling for digital heritage
The city archives of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (the Netherlands) hold extensive World War II heritage, including diaries, letters, and photographs. To bring these stories to life an interactive exhibit was ...
tandfonline.com
Reminder: The SCMS Board Self-Nomination Form is still open. If you're interested in helping guide the future of SCMS, we encourage you to submit a self-nomination for consideration by the Nominating Committee. The deadline is September 15, 2026. More: buff.ly/yCIcHkU
Even as the band has changed and reinvented itself, the Grateful Dead's fanbase has proven to be uniquely and consistently renewable — a cosmic inheritance passed down from one generation to the next, welcoming younger Deadheads with open arms. n.pr/4fFshZY
How Deadheads became rock and roll's greatest renewable resource
Even as the band has changed and reinvented itself, the Grateful Dead's fanbase has proven to be uniquely and consistently renewable — a cosmic inheritance passed down from one generation to the next, welcoming younger Deadheads with open arms.
n.pr
Welsh government announces general Higher Education review. At last and at least *someone* is doing *sonething*. The university finance situation in Wales is by far the most dire of all the UK nations, so this is urgent. But in England, still nada. www.walesonline.co.uk/news/educati...
Major review of universities in Wales announced after years of cuts
The Welsh Government will look at university funding and organisation as bosses face a black hole of almost £100m
walesonline.co.uk
📢 CFP: Convergence special issue "Algorithmic Sociality: Platforms, Connection, and the Reconfiguration of Digital Relations." 📅 Abstract deadline: 1 October 2026 Full CFP: journals.sagepub.com/page/con/cal...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
Disney Plus will host ‘thoughtfully curated’ fan-made videos starting in the US. www.theverge.com/streaming/97...
Disney gives TikTok creators official access to Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar characters
Disney Plus will host ‘thoughtfully curated’ fan-made videos starting in the US.
theverge.com
TWC / SCMS Fan and Audience Studies group graduate student essay contest journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/tw...
TWC / SCMS Fan and Audience Studies group graduate student essay contest | Transformative Works and Cultures
journal.transformativeworks.org
Disney studies friends: has anyone written about religion in Hunchback of Notre Dame?? I find very little on it generally but most of it is, understandably, disability studies.
New article ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Kearns, C., Sinclair, G., Rosati, P., Doidge, M., Black, J., Fletcher, T., … Leoni Santos, G. (2026). How do football fans experience online abuse? Impacts, responses and implications. Leisure Studies, 1–23. #FanStudies doi.org/10.1080/0261...
How do football fans experience online abuse? Impacts, responses and implications
Online abuse, especially in the context of sport and leisure, is a growing and required area of study. Athletes, journalists and officials have been notably subject to various forms of abuse on maj...
doi.org
New article ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Rui Mateus. (2026). Mapping Middle-earth: Cartographic Representations and Transmedia Storytelling in The Lord of the Rings Online. VIA PANORAMICA: Revista De Estudos Anglo-Americanos A Journal of Anglo-American Studies, 15(1). ojs.letras.up.pt/index.php/VP...
Mapping Middle-earth: Cartographic Representations and Transmedia Storytelling in The Lord of the Rings Online | VIA PANORAMICA: Revista de Estudos Anglo-Americanos / A Journal of Anglo-Amer...
ojs.letras.up.pt
New edited collection with several chapters on zines and fandom ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Queer Print Cultures Resistance, Subversion, and Community Edited by Javier Samper Vendrell and Vance Byrd #FanStudies utppublishing.com/doi/book/10....
Queer Print Cultures - University of Toronto Press
Resistance, Subversion, and Community
utppublishing.com
new today! I got REEEEAALLY worked up about a fandom headline thefanthropologist.com/fandom-has-a...
Fandom Has a Real Branding Problem
I'm going to go on a rant about an article I haven't read yet. It's this one from The New York Times. The journalist is a tech writer - so AI upsets fits to her field pretty neatly. I'm aware, so awar...
thefanthropologist.com
New article ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Knackmuhs, E. (2026). D.B. CooperCon: The confluence of serious leisure, fan studies and true crime. Leisure Studies, 1–12. #FanStudies doi.org/10.1080/0261...
D.B. CooperCon: The confluence of serious leisure, fan studies and true crime
This study investigated fan identification and serious leisure of attendees at CooperCon, a gathering of researchers, experts and other enthusiasts interested in the infamous and unsolved 1971 D.B....
doi.org
This looks like an interesting read 🚨 Rasheed, A. K. F., & T. Ajith, N. (2026). Beyond the rides – a Uses and Gratifications perspective on memorable theme park experiences. Leisure Studies, 1–22. doi.org/10.1080/0261...
Beyond the rides – a Uses and Gratifications perspective on memorable theme park experiences
As the global leisure industry continues to expand, understanding the factors that contribute to memorable leisure experiences and visitor retention is becoming increasingly important. This study a...
doi.org
Concept art by Mary Blair for Cinderella (1950), dir. Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson, Walt Disney Productions
New article ⬇️⬇️⬇️ Marinescu, V. . (2026). Generations of Hallyu’s Fans. Postmodernism Problems, 16(2), 264–278. #FanStudies pmpjournal.org/index.php/pm...
Generations of Hallyu’s Fans | Postmodernism Problems
pmpjournal.org
The new issue of Scholarly Editing is out with some fantastic articles! www.scholarlyediting.org/issues/43/ It makes me think about how we could do this kind of work in #FanStudies to make scholarly editions (physical or digital) of fanfiction. Is anyone doing this already? I would love to know.
Volume 43
Volume 43 amply represents the editorial board’s interest in resuscitating, sustaining, and investigating eclectic, understudied materials. Readers will discover digital humanities innovations, critic...
scholarlyediting.org
Portishead released "Sour Times" as the second single from their debut album 'Dummy' 32 years ago on August 1, 1994 | Watch the official video, listen to the album + revisit our tribute here: album.ink/prtshddmmy
"There are certain rules that one must abide by…" @drstevejones.bsky.social challenges what you think you know about "The Postmodern Slasher Film" including that it started with SCREAM. Now in paperback from @edinburghup.bsky.social edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-pos...
When IP goes IRL: Standing out with location-based entertainment www.mckinsey.com/industries/t...
mckinsey.com
Excited to be giving a talk on 'Adaptation and Spatial Transmedia in the Theme Park Experience' at Write By the River Literary Festival in Bedford, soon to be home of UK Universal Studios park!
Universal Studios Globe Spinning Entrance
ALT: Universal Studios Globe Spinning Entrance
static.klipy.com
