Sponsored by Dr. Amber Engelson

A Horse Named Redemption

Author: Joseph King

Although there is some textual evidence of the transition from Old Norse to Old English, to Modern English, little is known about how that evolution might have occurred. To better understand the linguistic evolution of Modern English, I wrote a fictional story of everyday interactions between an Anglo-Saxon and Norse individuals. Through the use of primary sources such as the Anglo-Saxon chronicle and old Norse/English language dictionaries, I was able to reconstruct what some of these formative conversations might have looked like between individuals speaking different languages that shared similar husbandry. I think through imagining what these conversations looked like, we can better understand our own language use today, as well as how we arrived at where we are linguistically. In this presentation, I will give you contextual knowledge on my story before reading an excerpt to hopefully paint a vivid picture of English's early linguistic history.

Media Analysis Practices in Tumblr Fandoms

Author: Corin Carpenter

Communities such as the ones on Tumblr, where fans are freely encouraged to engage in writing on topics that interest them, have pedagogical implications regarding what motivates people to write, as well as how they write when left to their own devices. Scholars such as Allison McCracken and Melanie Kohnen have studied Tumblr and its presence in fan culture. Using internet-based research of public Tumblr blogs, my presentation will explore how Tumblr users engage in media analysis within the Our Flag Means Death and What We Do in the Shadows fandoms.

Participatory Queering: Fanwork as a Site for Queer-Relationality and Narrative Construction of the Self

Author: Casey Vieira

Digital fanfiction spheres, such as Wattpad, serve as new hubs for narrative creation and dissemination, and have seen particular success in the fostering of queer narrative. Scholars such as Tyler Bradway and Anna Llewellyn study digital terrains like Wattpad and argue for its resourcefulness for young, queer individuals, citing it as a sphere for queer relationality. Using an auto-ethnographic approach, I expand on these positions and apply them to my own juvenile fanfiction practices on Wattpad. Through analysis of my Adventure Time fanfiction Pink Pena, I examine how queer relationality was embodied in my process and in my work, whilst drawing on both queer and narrative theory to further exemplify the significance of Wattpad in adolescent queer communities.