Comments on: Report from Console-ing Passions 2010

By: Mary Beltrán

Mary Beltrán — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:33:11 +0000

Thanks for this summary and for sharing your impressions of the conference, Melissa. I also found it a really stimulating experience with respect to the excellent presentations, and inspiring by offering an opportunity to reflect on the place of feminism in media studies and in my own research and life. With respect to my life here at UW-Madison, it was particularly gratifying to see the influence of the long-term emphasis on feminist media studies here in the many presentations by alumni, now leaders in the field as faculty throughout the country, and by current graduate students (I’m really proud of you guys!). I would have liked to have seen a forum for discussing our reactions to the plenary presentations, as the place of feminism in media studies and publishing – the topic of the plenary – is an important topic and much was left undiscussed (the reason why the twitter backchannel became so busy, I would guess). But hey, that’s what’s the next conference is for…

By: Darcey West

Darcey West — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:47:17 +0000

Good summation, Melissa! And while none of us will be able to stop talking about the role of Twitter at this (and future) conferences, I’m happy to read about some of the impressive scholarship presented. Especially of those panels I was unable to attend.

It was my first Console-ing Passions, and I was happy to see such strong representations from those with media studies backgrounds and our feminist academic friends. As a media scholar, I felt inspired to take a closer look at the political implications of my own work and enjoyed hearing new takes on familiar subjects.

There were many panels on the media industries, which I appreciated and was pleasantly surprised to see. Great branding panel with Erin Copple Smith & Courtney Brannon Donoghue on Friday. As well as the aforementioned Star Studies panel from Wednesday. Important scholarship and interesting to see it done from a feminist perspective as that is still so rare.

By: Scaring Off The Grad Student Twitterati « Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style

Scaring Off The Grad Student Twitterati « Celebrity Gossip, Academic Style — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 03:01:28 +0000

[…] Click authored a great wrap-up of the conference over at Antenna, and Amanda Ann Klein has a great piece on the uses and mis-uses (including several […]

By: Lindsay H. Garrison

Lindsay H. Garrison — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 22:04:58 +0000

THanks for this, Melissa! It was a great conference, for sure. Some of the panels I really enjoyed were Thursday’s on “Form, Genre, and Gender” (Erin Lee Mock, David Gurney, and Derek Johnson), talking about the varied viewers of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, how the online music video clip is expanding the musical genre, and how gendered discourses of franchises work to (de)legitimate Gossip Girl and LOST (respectively).

I also really enjoyed Darcey West’s paper on intergenerational negotiations of motherhood and “feminine fulfillment” in Brothers & Sisters, as well as Amber Watts’ work on casual video gaming and domestic labor. (Nanny Mania looked cool, but totally wore me out after only one level!)

The “Market in Girls” panel made for a great ending to the conference, with three great presentations from Lindsay Giggey (on Connie Stevens and cross-promotions for Warner Bros’ “Hawaiian Eye” as early teen girl market appeal), Morgan Blue (on Hannah Montana as post-feminist masquerade), and Tiina Vares (presenting some incredible audience work with 71 tween girls in New Zealand on their use of popular culture to negotiate the good/bad girl binary).

There were so many great panels that I didn’t have a chance to attend. One thing, though, that I really loved about Console-ing Passions was the number of grad students presenting alongside faculty. It presents such a collaborative feel and welcome environment for aspiring scholars (like me). In addition, the “tweet up” on Friday night was really fun – I loved meeting so many new people, including those whom I recognized from their tiny avatars. Thanks, everyone, for such a great experience.