MAPACA, Nov 8 – 11, 2017, Philadelphia

There are several regional popular culture associations, in addition to the American Popular Culture Association.  The Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association (MAPACA) is one of them.  These conferences are a laboratory for new ideas, and because they are multiple sessions going on at once, you can pick the topics of most interest.  The sessions I attended (see below) were interesting.  Among the things I learned:

Mexico held a Day of the Dead parade after one was portrayed in a 007 movie

African City is an internet video series, about five young woman who grew up in the US and went home to Ghana.  It has been described as an African version of “Sex and the City,” and there are similarities but it is also a well-made program.  The episodes are 15 minutes each.

LaBeouf, Ronkko & Turner are doing some innovative work in public art

Female crafters are Etsy are frequently presented as doing home based crafts as a part-time business / hobby

Sessions I attended:

Film / Literature and tourism

Day of the Dead and 007 in Mexico City / Julia Sloan
Fried Green Tomatoes and the Needs of Female Film-Induced Tourists (Maura Grady and Robert D. Robertson
Braveheart, Outlander, and Harry Potter:  Popular Culture Tourism Drivers and the Marketing of Scotland’s Cultural Heritage ( Karalee Dawn MacKay).

Social Media, Labor and Consumption

Crafted identity, Creative Labor:  Affect and representation in an Etsy economy / Kayla Keener
Dainty v Dominant:  Advertising consumption and gender portrayal through Facebook / Trevor Russell Arnold
Social Interaction vs Institutional Interaction:  Platform Performances and Gender Labor / Angela M Cirucci

Politics and Social Media

Twitter and the Political Celebrity:  Cory Booker / Paul Ziek
Promoting Libyan Nationalism Concepts via Facebook:  A Crucial Discourse Analysis / Safa M Elnaili
Twitter Habits of Britain’s Feline Civil Servants / Julie Still

Art Narrative and Social Media

Mapping the Digital Counterflow:  Exploring the Production Distribution and Reception of an African City / Krys Osei
Memes IRL:  How the Performance Art of LaBeouf, Ronkko & Turner Unleashed an Internet Subculture into the Real World / Katie Elson Anderson
Rethinking the Lizzie Bennet Diaries:  the Literary Approach to New Media Storytelling / Catharine Godlewsky
The Ukulele, YouTube and the Experience of Art / Nova Seals

Tropes that Transfer:  The Cultural Impact of SF / Fantasy

Slashing Spock:  Passing, Pon Farr, and “This Simple Feeling” / Danielle Suzanne Girard
Transferring the Visual Style of Jessica Jones from the Graphic Novel to the Netflix series / Eva Maria Thury
Cowboys in Space / Nola Thacker