Conference: Fanfiction and the Ancient World

/in /by

When: 4 & 5 October 2024 10.00-17.00
Where: Radboud University (Oct. 4th) and Online (Oct. 5th)
10:00 tot 14:00 Erasmusgebouw, Erasmusplein 1 – Room E9.14
14:00 tot 17:00 Erasmusgebouw, Erasmusplein 1 – Room E3.29
Participation: This course is open to PhD Candidates and RMA students; OSL members will get priority access.
Credits: OSL RMAs and PhDs can obtain 1EC from participating in the conference and submitting an assignment (for instructions, see below). NB: Credits can only be awarded to humanities ReMA and PhD students from Dutch universities.
Organizers: Dr. Amanda Potter and Julia Neugarten MA

Registration is now open VIA THIS LINK. REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE ON 24 SEPTEMBER.

How can fan studies contribute to the study of Greco-Roman Antiquity and the field of Classical reception? How can Classics contribute to the study of fan culture? How does the community we call Greek mythology fandom differ from the community we call Classicists? How are they similar? How can they challenge and support each other’s knowledges, methodologies, and epistemologies?

The Fanfiction and the Ancient World conference hopes to bring these two disciplines into dialogue with each other and to offer an academic platform to scholars working on the intersection of these fields.

  • Fanfiction or fan art about, inspired by, based on or drawing on the style of cultural materials from Greco-Roman Antiquity
  • Fanfiction and fan culture as classical reception or rewriting
  • Conceptualizing Classics and academia as fannish endeavors
  • Affective, emotional, and communal ties in both Classics and fandom
  • Methodologies for studying classics fandom and studying fandom as classical reception
  • Analysis of cultural capital in fandom-oriented and classics-oriented communities 

We especially welcome contributions that problematize the distinction between academic and fannish engagement with Greco-Roman Antiquity. We also particularly encourage people with a fannish perspective (including those outside academia), and early-career researchers.

The conference will have an in-person component held at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, on Friday October 4th, and an online component held on Saturday October 5th. On the Saturday afternoon we will be joined by renowned fandom scholar Professor Henry Jenkins, from the University of Southern California, who will close our conference with an ‘ask me anything’ session. 

Readings and Assignment

In order to earn 1EC, students may read the two texts listed below and either:

  • If attending only on Friday October 4th, write a 300-word reflection on something that sparked their research interest during the day, and the way this interest may lead to future research. Submit the reflection to osl@rug.nl by 21 October 17.00 (CET).
  • If attending only on Saturday October 5th, prepare a question for Professor Henry Jenkins and ask it during our Ask-Me-Anything session. Submit the question in written form to Julia Neugarten (julia.neugarten@ru.nl) by 1 October 12.00 (CET), so the organizers have time to go over the questions and prepare the session.
  • If attending both days, pick one of these two assignments.

Readings 

NOTE: For PhD Candidates and RMa students who want to attend for credits, you only need to attend either 4 or 5 October, of course you are more than welcome to attend both days. Please indicate your preference when registering.

Organizers

Julia Neugarten, Department of Arts & Culture Studies, Radboud University, 

Julia is a researcher at the Radboud Institute of Culture and History (RICH) and with Anchoring Innovation (supported by the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) through the Dutch Research Council (NWO), as part of the Anchoring Innovation Gravitation Grant research agenda of OIKOS, the National Research School in Classical Studies, the Netherlands (project number 024.003.012). She is also a member of OIKOS and OSL.

Dr. Amanda Potter, Open University and University of Liverpool

This conference organized in conjunction with Radbound University and ACE Creativity, University of Liverpool

Funding

This event is funded with the support of an OSL Seed Money Grant offered by the Netherlands Research School of Literary Studies. It is also funded with the support of Anchoring Innovation, The National Research School in Classical Studies in the Netherlands (OIKOS) and the Radboud Institute for Culture & History (RICH) .