In addition to a lifetime of avid fangirling in places as diverse as Hong Kong, Japan, and the United States, I have over 10 years experience researching and writing about media fans and fandoms. In 2011, I earned a Ph.D. in media studies from Indiana University Bloomington with my ethnographic study of Japanese women fans of Hong Kong films and stars, which I am in the process of turning into a book manuscript.
My work – both academic and otherwise – focuses on creating bridges between the communities – fans, academics, and media producers – that intersect in the online spaces of social media. My current projects, including curating the fan writing archive, The Fan Meta Reader, instructing the online course Fan Studies for Fans through Patreon, and co-coordinating the upcoming 2018 Fan Studies Network North America conference, all work towards the goal of fostering mutual awareness and communication between fans and academics. I have appeared on The Three-Patch Podcast and Fansplaining, and I was a guest panelist on the “Hannibal and Creativity” panel at Matt Zoller Seitz’s first Split Screens television festival in 2017, as well as on panels at the fan-run 221B Con and FannibalFest.
