PSYC 4480 - Psychology of Fandom
Class Meeting: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm in the Library Multimedia Room
Office: 306 Callaway Academic Building
Also available by appointment and via Google Hangouts and Skype (smsmith987)
Email: ssmith28@lagrange.edu
(use subject: PSYC 4480)
Please use polite email etiquette or your email may be deleted.
Phone: 706-880-8298
Twitter: @SocialPsySteph (Class hashtag: #PSYC4480)
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Please see the course calendar at the bottom of the page for assignment dates.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychological Sciences
LaGrange College
All students enrolled for Interm 2018 should complete the following survey. All surveys for C01 should be completed by Thursday, January 4th at 12:00 pm. This survey will count as your first participation points for the course.
Text
Duffett, M. (2013). Understanding Fandom: An Introduction to the Study of Media Fan Culture. Bloomsbury Academic.
Students are not required to purchase this book. Two copies are being held on reserve in the library for students to use. Use of the book is necessary for completion of the class.
Students will also be required to read several journal articles and book excerpts, all of which will be provided in a digital format via Connect.
Course Objectives
This course will examine different aspects of fandom through a psychological lens. Topics will include exploring what it means to be a fan, motivations for engaging in fan culture, and methods of engaging in fan cultures. The goal is to introduce students to aspects of fan culture and the study of media fandom. Students will also gain hands-on experience in the methodology of fan studies.
Course Requirements
Class Participation
Daily Participation: Each day, several reading assignments will be assigned to students. These will typically consist of a small section of the course textbook along with about two journal articles. Students will be required to complete these readings before the assigned date (please see the course calendar for specific reading due dates). In addition, students will be required to submit at least two questions/discussion points from at least two of the readings. These will be submitted directly to the discussion leader (see next section) and the professor via email by 3:00 pm the day before the readings will be discussed in class. These submissions should demonstrate a critical reading of the text and be formatted in a way to facilitate discussion. Students will receive a grade of 0 - 4 based on their submissions using the rubric provided below. A list of all topics with associated discussion leaders and due dates will be made available on Connect and in the course calendar.
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Reading Submission Rubric
During the second half of the course, class time will mainly be spent working on the final project and no readings/discussions will be required during this time. On these days, students will receive 0 - 3 points based on how they spend their time during class (please see the rubric below). Students will be required to check-out with the professor before leaving class for the day. During this time, students will review with the professor what they accomplished during that day's class.
Discussion Leader: Each day, a pair of students will serve as the discussion leaders (please see the course calendar for details on when each topic will be covered). As discussion leaders, the students will be responsible for leading the day's discussion. This will entail preparing an outline of discussion, compiling and organizing classmates questions/discussion points, and keeping the discussion focused on the topic. Discussion leaders will be graded on the organization, planning, and execution of their discussion topic. Discussion leaders are encouraged to incorporate any other relevant information into the day's discussion beyond the required readings (e.g., video clips, news reports, etc.). Please see the grading criteria below. Students are required to submit a lesson plan to the professor by 4:00 pm the day before they are scheduled to serve as discussion leaders.
Discussion Leader Rubric
Specific Fandom Presentation: All students will choose one specific fandom on which to give a short presentation at some points during the course of the class. Students will sign up for their fandom and date during the first week of class. No two students may present on the same fandom. For the presentation, students will discuss the media of interest and describe the fandom of the media. Students are encouraged to utilize multiple multimedia within their presentation including PowerPoint (or related software), video clips, class polling, Twitter, etc. Students will receive a 0 - 4 for their presentation using the rubric provided below.
Specific Fandom Presentation Rubric
Class Trip to Senoia: The entire class will be taking a trip to Senoia, GA on Tuesday, January 16th leaving campus at 8:45 am and returning around 4:00 - 5:00 pm. This trip is a required component of the course. This trip will entail a guided Walking Dead tour and a self-paced tour of the sites in downtown Senoia. Transportation and admission to the tour will be covered by funding from the LaGrange College Undergraduate Research Fund for the first 13 students registered for the course. Any students beyond this that add the course will be responsible for their own transportation to Senoia and must cover the cost of the tour.
As part of this trip, students will be strongly encouraged to collect data/conduct interviews to be used as part of their final project for the course (see the following section). Students will be able to interview and gather data from tour guides, cosplayers, and locals. This information can then be used in the student's final project.
Final Project
All students will complete a final project for the course. This final project can be either a literature review or a research proposal (see below for more information on each type of project). Students will have ample class time to work on this project during the second half of the term (please see the course calendar) however, outside work will also be necessary. Students will complete both a paper and a presentation as part of this project. The presentation is due on the final day of class (Thursday, January 25th at 9:00 am) and the paper is due on Friday, January 26th at 3:00 pm. No late work will be accepted and papers must be submitted as a hard copy (no electronic copies will be accepted).
Literature Review: Students interested in completing this type of final project will create a thesis statement related to some aspect of fandom/media research. The student will then conduct an extensive literature review on the topic. The student will then write a formal literature review paper on the topic. Students receiving an above average grade on this project will be invited to submit their papers for publication in Citations.
Research Proposal: Students interested in completing this type of final project will create a research question related to some aspect of fandom/media research. Students will then construct research methodology that could be used to answer this question. Students do NOT need to actually conduct this experiment. Students will then write a formal research proposal consisting of an abstract, introduction, methodology, proposed results, and discussion. Students receiving an above average grade on this project will be invited to actually complete the experiment during the Spring semester as a guided research project to be presented at the LaGrange College Undergraduate Research Poster Session.
Presentation: All students will also make a presentation of their project on the final day of the course. This presentation will provide a brief overview of your research to the other students in the course (more details will be provided at a later date).
Overall Grading
The different types of assignments that you will encounter in this class will each contribute a unique amount of weight towards your final grade in the class. The following table lists the percent of your final grade that will come from each of the designated types of assignments.
The following factors may also affect a student's grade:
Grades may also reflect class behavior, and those students who behave in a way deemed disruptive by the instructor may have their grades reduced and/or be referred to Student Judiciaries. Likewise, students that are active in class discussion may have their grades increased.
Academic misconduct. Any student who cheats or plagiarizes will be given a grade of “F” for the course and will be referred to Student Judiciaries. Cheating includes, but is not limited to: wearing earphones or hats to the test session, attempting to or leaving the classroom with a copy of the test or answer sheet, looking at another student’s test or answer sheet, or using a phone during the exam period. Plagiarism involves any attempt to pass off work from another source as your own. This applies to both tests and assignments.
Maintaining a Good Learning Environment in the Classroom
Electronic Devices
Please silence your phone and put it away during class. Yes, I can see you texting, tweeting, and snapping even when you put your phone under the desk. This not only distracts other students around you but also distracts me from my lecture. If I see a phone out at an inappropriate time, I will call you out in front of everyone and your grade WILL be negatively impacted by repeated issues.
That said, I would like for you to bring a mobile device/tablet/laptop to class as we will use them often for participation via Twitter and polling. In addition, much of class time will involve the use of a laptop. Thus, if you have one, you are encouraged to bring it to class. If you do not have a laptop or prefer to not bring it to class, one will be provided by the library when necessary for class.
In order to encourage correct behavior regarding electronic devices in the course, if the class can go the entire semester without the professor reprimanding a student for inappropriate electronic device usage, then ALL students in the class will receive 2 points of extra credit added to their Daily Reading grade. However, each time the professor must reprimand a student for using a cell phone during class or being off task while on a computer, than the entire class loses one of these points.
Attendance
Attending class is very important for you to be able to do well in the course. You are responsible for all content covered in class and are required to attend all class sessions. Given that the Jan Term is so short, all class meetings are vital. If a student misses a class session, they cannot earn the daily participation points for that day. In addition, students must arrive ON TIME in order to receive the daily participation points. Students arriving more than 20 minutes late for class will not receive the points for that day.
If a student misses class or arrives late for class and they can provide written documentation of a valid excuse, this policy may be waived. If this is the case, please contact the professor immediately.
I will use Twitter to send out additional reminders and announcements (in addition to what I post on Connect). Students are strongly encouraged to follow me to easily receive this information. When I post information relevant to students in this course I will use #PSYC4480. I encourage students that have questions or comments related to class to post using this # as well or send me a direct tweet. I will also post a list of all students Twitter handles on Connect (for those students who have indicated they are willing to share this information) so that students may connect using Twitter. This offers an easy way to ask questions of other students, post information relevant to the class, set up group work sessions, etc...
Other Administrative Details
All papers submitted in this class should follow APA format and the paper formatting guidelines found here.
If you have a documented disability or need that affects your class performance, you must speak with the instructor & present documentation by the end of the 2nd week of the term.
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The course outline is a guide. The coverage of certain topics or participation in class activities may take more time or less time than was originally expected. The instructor reserves the right to alter the course outline at any time. Students will be notified in class and/or by email of any changes in the course outline.
In the case of an emergency such as severe weather or an influenza or zombie outbreak, I may be obliged to make changes to course content, assignments, or other substantive elements of the class.
Acts of academic misconduct (e.g. cheating, plagiarism) will result in course failure and referral to the the Honor Council.
All tests, papers, etc... will be destroyed during week 5 of the following semester. Any questions regarding grades or assignments must be addressed before that time.
You are required to get permission from the instructor if you wish to audio record, video record, or take pictures of a class.
Responsible Employee Reporting Obligation: All faculty and staff share in the responsibility to create a safe learning environment for all students and for the campus as a whole. As members of the campus community, all faculty and staff (other than those designated as confidential reporters) are designated as responsible employees and therefore have the duty to report any instances of sexual harassment, sexual violence and/or other forms of prohibited discrimination. If a student would prefer to share information about sexual harassment, sexual violence or discrimination with a confidential employee who does not have this reporting responsibility, a list of those individuals can be found at http://www.lagrange.edu/about/security/sexual-harassment-violence.html.
*Instructor reserves right to alter schedule due to any unforeseen circumstances*