Supernatural premiered on September 14, 2005, on what was then called the WB Network. Creator Eric Kripke was inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, putting his heroes, brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, in a big black ’67 Impala and sending them in search of the urban legends that fascinated him. The series attracted a passionate fan base from the start and was described as a 'cultural attractor' that tapped into the zeitgeist of the moment, reflecting global fears of terrorism with its themes of fighting unseen evil. The chemistry between the lead actors, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, contributed to the show’s initial success, and Supernatural found its niche when it combined demon-hunting adventures with a powerful relationship drama that explored the intense, complicated bond between the brothers. Supernatural is as much a story of familial ties, love and loyalty as it is of 'saving people, hunting things.'

Fan Phenomena: Supernatural explores the ongoing fascination and passion for a show that developed a relationship with fans through eight seasons and continues to have an impact on fan culture to the present day. Essays here explore the rich dynamic that has developed between fans and producers, actors, writers, directors, the show creator and show-runners through online interactions on Twitter and Facebook, face-to-face exchanges at conventions and representations of fandom within the show’s meta-episodes. Contributors also explore gender and sexuality in the show and in fan art; the visual dynamics, cinematography and symbolism in the episodes as well as the fan videos they inspire; and the culture of influence, learning and teaching in the series.

Fan Phenomena: The Big Lebowski examines how this quirky movie evolved from its underwhelming debut to attract a mass following on par with that of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Contributors take a close look at the film’s phenomenal impact on popular culture and language and examine the script’s rich philosophical implications, whether it is the nihilism within the film itself or the Dudeism that Jeff Bridges’ God-like character has bred (the 'Church of the Latter-Day Dude' has attracted more than 70,000 official adherents through its online ordination process). Covering issues concerning gender and sexuality within the film, such as Maude’s feminist art and Jackie Treehorn’s Malibu garden party, the essays here also explore the gender divides the film has created in today’s society, such as male versus female fandom rivalry at festivals. These gatherings – part costume contest, part bowling tournament, part trivia contest, part fan meet-up – have, since their debut in Louisville, K Y, in 2002, sprung up all around America and have even expanded globally, and the book takes an inside look at these events and includes interviews with Lebowski festival organizers and authors of other fan books and academic treatises.

Aside from the occasional nod to epaulettes or use of camouflage, war and fashion seem to be strange partners. Not so, argue the contributors to this book, who connect military industrial practices as well as military dress to textile and clothing in new ways. For instance, the book includes a series of commentaries on the impact of military dress in the airline industry, in illustrated wartime comics and even considers today’s muscled soldier’s body as a new type of uniform. Elsewhere, the effects of conquest introduce a new set of postcolonial aesthetics as military and colonial regimes disrupt local textile production and garment making. In another chapter, it is argued that textiles and fashion are important because they reflect a core practice, one that bridges textile artists and designers in an expressive, creative and deeply physical way to matters of cultural significance. And the book concludes by calling the very mode of 'military chic' into ethical question.

The premier text to illustrate the impact of war on textiles, bodies, costume, art and design, Fashion & War in Popular Culture will be warmly welcomed by scholars of fashion design and theory, historians of fashion and those interested in theories of warfare and military science.

From Theory to Practice is the first scholarly look at the possibilities and challenges of impartial and objective journalism in our digitized media world. This volume brings together contributions from editors at premiere news outlets like Reuters and the BBC to discuss how to assess, measure and apply impartiality in news and current affairs in a world where the impact of digital technologies is constantly changing how news is covered, presented and received. In this changing media environment, impartial journalism is as crucial as it ever was in traditional media, and this book offers an essential analysis of how to navigate a media milieu in which technology has sharply reduced the gatekeeping role news gatherers and producers used to have in controlling content flow to audiences.

From a decidedly inauspicious start as a low-rated television series in the 1960s that was cancelled after three seasons, Star Trek has grown to a multi-billion dollar industry of spin-off series, feature films and merchandise. Fuelling the ever-expanding franchise are some of the most rabid and loyal fans in the universe, known affectionately as 'Trekkies'. Perhaps no other community so typifies fandom as the devoted aficionados of the Star Trek television series, motion pictures, novels, comic books and conventions. Indeed, in many respects, Star Trek fans created modern fan culture and continue to push its frontiers with elaborate fan-generated video productions, electronic fan fiction collectives and a proliferation of tribute sites in cyberspace.



In this anthology, a panel of rising and established popular culture scholars examines the phenomenon of Star Trek fan culture and its most compelling dimensions. The book explores such topics as the impact of the recent rebooting of the iconic franchise on its fan base; the complicated and often contentious relationship between Star Trek and its lesbian and gay fans; the adaptation of Star Trek to other venues, including live theatre, social media and gaming; fan hyperreality, including parody and non-geek fandom; one iconic actor’s social agenda; and alternative fan reactions to the franchise’s villains. The resulting collection is both snapshot and moving picture of the practices and attitudes of a fan culture that is arguably the world’s best-known and most misunderstood.



Striking a balanced tone, the contributors are critical yet respectful, acknowledging the uniquely close and enduring relationship between fans and the franchise while approaching it with appropriate objectivity, distance and scope. Accessible to a variety of audiences – from the newcomer to fan culture to those already well-read on the subject – this book will be heralded by fans as well as serious scholars.

In October 2012, the Walt Disney Company paid more than $4 billion to acquire Lucasfilms, the film and production company responsible for Howard the Duck. But Disney, despite its history and success with duck characters, wasn’t after Howard; in buying Lucasfilms, it also bought the rights to the Star Wars franchise. Soon after the purchase, Disney announced a new Star Wars film was in the works and would be released in 2015, nearly four decades after the first film hit big screens around the world and changed popular culture forever. The continued relevance of Star Wars owes much to the passion of its fans. For millions of people around the world, the films are more than diversions - they are a way of life. Through costumed role-playing, incessant quoting, Yoda-like grammatical inversions and scholarly debates about the Force, fans keep the films alive in a variety of ways, and in so doing add to the saga’s cultural relevance.

The first book to address the films holistically and from a variety of cultural perspectives, Fan Phenomena: Star Wars explores numerous aspects of Star Wars fandom, from its characters to its philosophy. As one contributor notes, ‘The saga that George Lucas created affects our lives almost daily, whether we ourselves are fans of the saga or not’. Anyone who is struggling to forget Jar Jar Binks can certainly agree to that.

Academically informed but written for a general audience, this book will appeal to every fan and critic of the films. That is, all of us.

This collective provides a critical overview of research on the assessment of visual skills in students from six to eighteen years old. In a series of studies, contributors reconsider evaluation practices used in art education and examine current ideas about children’s development of visual skills and abilities. Suggesting a variety of novel approaches, they provide crucial support to those who advocate assessment based on international standards. Such assessment, this volume shows, contributes to our knowledge about visual skills and their development, improving art education and its chances to survive the twenty-first century as a respected and relevant school discipline.

In Framing Film, film studies experts Steven Allen and Laura Hubner draw on a selection of historically and culturally diverse texts to explore the intricate relationships between cinema and the visual arts. Broad in scope, the volume considers a range of visual arts media, including posters, paintings, photography, comic books, and production design. By examining these various forms of media, Allen and Hubner emphasize the ability of visual arts to frame the spectatorÆs experience of cinema. Among the films and artists considered in this thought-provoking interdisciplinary volume are selections from both the high- and low-brow aspects of culture.