Digital and Empirical Methods for Studying Readership and Fandom.
View the Project on GitHub jawalsh/z604-z672-comic-books-and-their-readers
Digital and Empirical Methods for Studying Readership and Fandom
Spring 2023
12:40 - 15:45 Wednesday, Ballantine Hall (BH) 118
Instructor: Associate Professor John A. Walsh, jawalsh@indiana.edu.
Office Hours: Monday 3pm - 4:30pm and by appointment.
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Final project is a research paper and class presentation. Based upon your analysis of specific examples from one or more forms of reader participation, write a research paper (approximately 2500-5000 words) in which you describe a community of comic readers and their practices of participatory culture. Your audience consists of academics and library professionals, but they likely do not have expertise in comic books or participatory comic book culture. Please reach out to me if you are interested in presenting your work in some other format or media other than the traditional research paper.
| Element | Score |
|---|---|
| Data Set A complete, accurate, and coherent data set chosen to address a specific research question with an identifiable context (e.g., a specific period, community, creator, work). Data set and data collection methods are clearly described in paper. If applicable: The data files are clearly named and organized and include a README file that explains the contents of the data set; links to data files and README are included in the final paper. |
4 3 2 1 |
| Context The context of the content being studied is clearly articulated and explained. For instance, you may be looking at comics and reader activities related to a specific title (e.g., The New Teen Titans), creator (e.g., Jack Kirby or Alison Bechdel), genre (e.g., war comics), time period (e.g., the “golden age” or the 1980s). The paper/presentation provides introductory information about the context suitable appropriate for the audience. |
4 3 2 1 |
| Terminology Proper terminology from relevant domains (e.g., comics studies, fan studies) are used throughout the paper. Specialized terminology that may not be clear to your audience is explained and/or illustrated |
4 3 2 1 |
| Analysis Analysis applies one more appropriate methods (e.g., content analysis, close reading, text analysis) to the data set to answer a research question about comics, comics readers, or comics culture. Methods used are clearly articulated in paper. The analysis references specific examples from data set (e.g., quotes from specific pieces of fan mail; discusses specific costume or character design). |
4 3 2 1 |
| Visualizations Documents include two or more visualizations that clearly illustrate your analysis. Visualizations are referenced in the text (e.g., “See Figure 3.”), appropriately sized, legible, clearly labeled, and include informative captions. |
4 3 2 1 |
| Professionalism Documents (paper and slides) are formatted properly, with a clean, coherent design and organization; clear headings; meaningful use of typography; bibliography, citations, and notes that conform to an accepted style such as MLA or APA; and free from distracting grammar, typographical, mechanical, word choice, punctuation, and spelling errors. |
4 3 2 1 |