New article in the Chronicle of Higher Education by Kelli Marshall

Dr. Kelli Marshall has a new article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education today, entitled "I'm an Academic, and I Run a Fan Site," about her experiences running a popular Gene Kelly website.

               

"From what I can surmise, it is unusual for an academic to run a fan site," says Marshall, "especially with her name, profession and online identity clearly attached. But why is this the case?" she asks.

See the full article here:
"I'm an Academic, and I Run a Fan Site"

Prof. Davis Receives VEF Grant for 'Christianity & Comic Books' Project

Prof. Blair Davis recently received a grant from DePaul University's Vincentian Endowment Fund in support of a project entitled 'Christianity and Comic Books.' Davis seeks to build a collection of Christian comic books to be housed in the DePaul Library’s Special Collections department, where they may be used for both teaching and research purposes. The collection will contain approximately forty comic books dating back as far as the 1940s, and including such works as Picture Stories From the Bible and Bible Tales for Young Folk. Examples of more recent titles include the 1982 comic book The Life of Pope John Paul II, and the 2003 comic book The Bible: Eden.

                        

"Comic books have served as a vibrant form through which Catholic beliefs and culture have been disseminated. By preserving this legacy, DePaul University will further add to its Vincentian identity by allowing current and future students and scholars to benefit from these rarely seen representations of Christianity in popular culture," says Davis.

Please see the DePaul University Newsline article for further information on the Vincentian Endowment Fund Awards: http://www.depaulnewsline.com/features/2015-vincentian-endowment-fund-awards-announced

Prof. Paul Booth Interviewed for WIRED Magazine Article

Prof Paul Booth was interviewed for a recent Wired article about the use of social media within sports fandom. Speaking about NBA star Stephen Curry, Booth tells of how “We’re seeing a lot of fandoms merging technologies and practices in the digital age... Fans who participate in multiple fandoms use the same kinds of methodologies. So what they might make for an X-Files fansite, they also might make for Steph Curry.”



The article, entitled "The Unprecedented, Unstoppable Fandom of Steph Curry," also quotes Booth as saying that “In the past, fandom was something you might participate in within a small community... It was geographically bound. People would go to games or fan conventions, but it was intended to be a much smaller affair.”