LoMonaco to discuss research into fan culture

Dr. Barbara LoMonaco, vice president for student affairs, will discuss her research into fan culture, with a focus on U2 fans, during a McKillop Library presentation on Thursday, Nov. 10. “Who’s Got a Sharpie? Fan Culture, Applied Anthropology and U2” will be held at 4 p.m. in the library’s special collections room.

LoMonaco’s presentation will examine how members of a group come to influence one another and how majority and minority opinion holders negotiate the implementation of norms.

The presentation is a prelude to LoMonaco’s spring 2017 course Fan Culture, which is cross-listed in the departments of Cultural, Environmental and Global Studies and English and Communications. The course will introduce students to key scholars and theories in the field of fan studies to explore questions such as: How do fans form virtual communities? How has the Internet aided the spread of fan cultures? How does fandom complicate our understanding of media producers and consumers as distinct groups?

LoMonaco earned her B.A. in philosophy, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, both in cultural anthropology, from Southern Methodist University. She began her career in higher education in 1996 as professor of anthropology at Transylvania University, where she created the anthropology major.