My name is Courtney Bliss and I am a professional geek. More specifically I am a Cultural Studies scholar working on a PhD in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University. My Master of Arts is in Popular Culture, also from BGSU.
Popular culture is something that has the potential to open a door to a whole new world or perspective or experience that is different from our own. Especially when the door is held open for everyone and anyone to pass through. These open doorways offer insight and perspective that people can take with them out into their lives and into the world and make changes that are beneficial for everyone. These open doorways also create spaces where very diverse groups of people can form and learn from each other, not just from the piece of culture that they are there for.
The more time I spend in cultural studies, the more I have come to realize that those of us in cultural studies are investigating something about ourselves. For me, that something is fandom; what is it that creates this attraction, devotion to a specific text? Why am I, and others, so obsessed with X-Men or Doctor Who or Star Trek or Adam Lambert or Queen or Rent or Hamilton? What doorways are these texts opening and why do we walk through them? Granted, on the other side of these doorways are others who have walked through, this community, this fandom, with similar interests and engagements with these texts. We find a place of belonging in relation to the specific text, welcomed by our fellow fans. It is the draw these doorways have and the communities formed on the other side that my research focuses on.
Thank you for visiting my website. It is a place where you can find out more about me and my research. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!
Courtney Bliss, ABD 