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augustaquarius.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams
@augustaquarius.bsky.social
3K followers 1.7K following 820 posts
⭐️Associate Professor
📚 @fanstudies.bsky.social Board Member
🎢 Transmedia Tourism • Experience Economy • Theme Parks • Disney • Participatory Cultures • Media Endings
❤️ Sushi • Margaritas • Minions
🧟‍♀️ she/her
💻 https://linktr.ee/drrebeccawilliams
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augustaquarius.bsky.social
Dr Rebecca Williams @augustaquarius.bsky.social · 1d
The full Special Issue of Celebrity Studies on Celebrity Crises and Conflicts is now out!

www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcel20/1...
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
johnmorgan3.bsky.social
Here's the DfE consultation document on international student fee levy, just gone live.

"Providers will pay a simple flat fee of £925 per student per year, which will not be introduced until 2028/29."

consult.education.gov.uk/internationa...
consult.education.gov.uk
November 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
flofavard.bsky.social
#CFP Red Alert!

We are organizing an international #symposium on #StarTrek in September 2026 in Paris, for the 60th anniversary of the franchise. 🖖

We are pleased to announce that Dr. @smittermeier.bsky.social will deliver the keynote address of the symposium!
A picture of the Star Trek frontier between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, as seen in tv series Discovery
November 26, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
dlpreport.com
❄️ Official Video: World Of Frozen opens March 29, 2026 at Disney Adventure World
November 24, 2025 at 7:08 PM
augustaquarius.bsky.social
Applications for the 2027-28 British Academy Conference scheme are open from Thursday 27 November 2025 to Thursday 29 January 2026 @britishacademy.bsky.social

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
British Academy Conferences funding for UK-based researchers
An exceptional opportunity for UK-based scholars to run a landmark event featuring leading-edge research as part of the British Academy’s events programme.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
November 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
jenessawilliams.bsky.social
🎸 🖤 🤘 New publication just dropped, and this time it's open access! 🎸 🖤 🤘

Williams, J. N., & Sobande, F. (2025). Note to scene: Gender, race and rose-tinted nostalgia in emo. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 0(0). lnkd.in/eMmjq6ue
Image including an abstract for an academic journal article titled 'Note to scene: Gender, race and rose-tinted nostalgia in emo': Abstract Twenty years on from its mainstream breakthrough, the popularity of emo music has resurged, offering new opportunities to appraise its cultural legacy. While acknowledging the creative and cathartic qualities of emo as fans, we reflect on how the intersections of race and gender have (not) been thoroughly engaged with in prior research on the genre. We also demonstrate how improvements concerning representation in emo are still constrained, with people of colour (POC) – particularly Black women – carrying heavy self-advocating responsibilities. Through a two-part case study – first, the marketing and booking of When We Were Young festival and second, a reflexive first-person analysis of music journalism surrounding emo’s ‘new wave’ acts – we explore how emo has been (re)branded for old(er) and new(er) generations in the 2020s, how musical belonging and expertise is negotiated within the culture, and how nostalgia narratives can serve to romanticize emo’s exclusionary past at the expense of its more inclusive future. Keywords: Black alt, emo, gender, music festivals, music journalism, nostalgia, popular music, punk, race, subculture
November 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
augustaquarius.bsky.social
My book Theme Park Fandom is coming out in a much more affordable paperback edition. Pre-order here:

www.routledge.com/Theme-Park-F...
Theme Park Fandom: Spatial Transmedia, Materiality and Participatory Cultures
Theme Park Fandom argues that serious study of theme parks and their adult fans has much to tell us about contemporary transmediality and convergence, themed and immersive spaces, and audience relatio...
www.routledge.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
fsnnorthamerica.bsky.social
🚨CFP Alert!🚨

▫️Special Issue: Music Fandoms
▫️Journal: Transformative Works & Cultures
▫️Article Submission Deadline: Jan 1, 2026

More info: journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/tw...

#FanStudies #MusicFandom
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November 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
augustaquarius.bsky.social
This new article in Social Sciences & Humanities Open looks interesting

Is it personal emotion or immersive atmosphere? An analysis of the components of tourist satisfaction at theme parks today

Bo Han & Jitong Song

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Is it personal emotion or immersive atmosphere? An analysis of the components of tourist satisfaction at theme parks today
As the theme park industry continues to develop, parks are facing challenges such as increasing tourist expectations and the efficiency improvement. I…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
augustaquarius.bsky.social
The full Special Issue of Celebrity Studies on Celebrity Crises and Conflicts is now out!

www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcel20/1...
November 25, 2025 at 2:55 PM
augustaquarius.bsky.social
bluntmag.com.au/features/wil...
Will Modern-Day Stan Culture Ruin The Experience Of Our Favourite Bands?
In 2007, being a Paramore stan meant begging your mum to let you dye your hair red. In 2025, being a music fan is taking on a different meaning.
bluntmag.com.au
November 25, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
fanstudies.bsky.social
New book chapter ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Prideful Actions, Shameful Identities Hybridity in International K-pop Fan Communities

Samantha James in:
Foundations in Cyber-Ethnography: A Cross-Cultural Approach

#FanStudies

books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&...
Foundations in Cyber-Ethnography
Contributors to this volume contend that in the realm of research on human society, online and digital communication can no longer be relegated to a separate cyber space and should instead be consider...
books.google.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
scaredofcustard.bsky.social
My review of Briony Hannell's brilliant book 'Feminist Fandom: Media Fandom, Digital Feminisms, and Tumblr' is now available in Feminist Media Studies ✨ @femmediastudies.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Feminist fandom: media fandom, digital feminisms, and tumblr
Published in Feminist Media Studies (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
May 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
hetanshah.bsky.social
Important role - new Chair of the Board of @ukri.org
£33k for one day a week. Closes 11 Jan. Would be good from my perspective to get someone who understands higher education and the value of the arts, humanities and social sciences!
plusportal.perrettlaver.com/VacancyDetai...
Perrett Laver - Leading Global Executive Search Firm
plusportal.perrettlaver.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
scmsfaas.bsky.social
The DePaul Pop Culture Conference theme this year is Remixing Pop Music, to be held at DePaul in Chicago on May 2. If you're interested in the theme, you can submit an idea for a presentation here (by Jan. 31): popcultureconference.com/2026-remix-p...
RSVP 1 — DePaul Pop Culture Conference
popcultureconference.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
taraperreau.bsky.social
🚨New Publication in Emotion
Haunted Attraction: The Effects of Recreational Fear on Interpersonal Bonding

Do scary experiences bring people closer?
People feel closer when they experience more fear: post-experience storytelling & reflection may be why

🔗 doi.org/10.1037/emo0...

#psychology #fear
November 21, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
lumarch.bsky.social
In a new essay for the Forum section of Celebrity Studies, I share some thoughts on how YouTube music critic and digital celebrity Anthony Fantano employs memes to build his dedicated fanbase, and how it relates to his murky digital history: dx.doi.org/10.1080/1939...
“Ya’ll know this is just my opinion, right?”: Anthony Fantano’s cultivation of authenticity and digital celebrity through memes
Published in Celebrity Studies (Ahead of Print, 2025)
dx.doi.org
October 31, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
vikkigodwin.bsky.social
Journal of Fandom Studies 13.1 is out now with Book Reviews:
Squee from the Margins: Fandom and Race, Rukmini Pande (2018) By Bethan Jones doi.org/10.1386/jfs_...

Identity, Community, and Sexuality in Slash Fan Fiction: Pocket Publics, Anne Kustritz (2023) By Julia Neugarten doi.org/10.1386/jfs_...
A court of theories and world-building: The expansion of Sarah J. Maas’s fictional worlds through fandom culture | Intellect
Much has been written when it comes to world-building, the nature of fan cultural practices, affect and digital media platforms. Each contributes in their own way to the field of media and cultural st...
doi.org
August 25, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
bloomsburypol.bsky.social
OUT NOW

Celebrity Bromance and Comradery Capital in #Asia edited by Celia Lam & Jackie Raphael-Luu www.bloomsbury.com/9780755655021

Coverage includes #bromance in Bollywood, #K-Pop, YouTube stars & more! 🤩

New in the Asian #Celebrity and #Fandom Studies series: https://bit.ly/4oddqat
October 10, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
ellietomsett.bsky.social
My article for Celebrity Studies has gone live - Exposing Russell Brand: navigating allegations of sexual misconduct and appealing to the manosphere. Open access so fill yer boots. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Exposing Russell Brand: navigating allegations of sexual misconduct and appealing to the manosphere
On 16 September 2023, Channel 4’s Russell Brand in Plain Sight: Dispatches aired allegations of the celebrity comedian’s sexual misconduct with women over the course of his career. The documentary,...
www.tandfonline.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
jfsaunders.bsky.social
✨ New Research Spotlight ✨

How do celebrity bodies shape the way young Black and Hispanic women see themselves?

Our recent study in Feminist Media Studies dug into this question by analyzing how women ages 18–29 describe the celebrity bodies they admire. The findings were powerful:
November 14, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
resprofnews.bsky.social
University financial woes ‘could widen regional gaps in spinouts’.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-i...
November 24, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
angusmain.bsky.social
Considering how much the creative industries contribute to the economy, it’s bewildering how hard the government are making it to start and maintain a creative career.
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d
2023 news report on variations in share of income from international students
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
November 24, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'Ahead of the autumn budget on 26 November, Universities UK (UUK) has calculated that funding per student for teaching in 2025-26 is at 64 per cent of the level it was in 2015-16.' 1/3
University teaching income ‘£6.4 billon less’ than 10 years ago
UUK says shortfall in teaching money is ‘baked in’ to higher education funding system as institutions brace for new tax in upcoming budget
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
jaakkostenros.bsky.social
New article on larp, activism and deliberation in this collection, out in December!
Education and Analog Role-Playing Games: Theory and Pedagogy, Volume 1
Education and Analog Role-Playing Games: Theory and Pedagogy brings together scholars and educators who explore the educational potential of analog role-playing games (tabletop role-playing games and ...
www.routledge.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Williams
fanstudies.bsky.social
New article ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Poon, H. (2025). ‘I don’t want to care’: Fandom, politics and affect in post-2019 Hong Kong. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 28(6), 1740-1757.

#FanStudies

doi.org/10.1177/1367...
‘I don’t want to care’: Fandom, politics and affect in post-2019 Hong Kong - Hannah Poon, 2025
The popularity of Mirror, a 12-member boy group, skyrocketed in Hong Kong in 2021 and attracted a mass following of local fans. This fan wave, however, took ove...
doi.org
November 24, 2025 at 11:38 AM