Identity in Popular Culture SAMLA Panel (SAMLA )
Atlanta, GA
Organization: South Atlantic Modern Language Association
Event: SAMLA
Popular culture serves as a powerful pedagogical force, often subtly and overtly shaping our understanding of the world, ourselves, and others. From the narratives we consume in film and television to the interactions we engage in on social media, popular culture offers frameworks for understanding social norms, historical events, scientific concepts, and the very nature of identity itself. This session aims to unpack the processes through which knowledge is produced, validated, contested, and internalized within and via popular culture, as well as how these processes intersect with the lived experiences and representations of various identities.
Possible Panel Topics May Include, but are not limited to:
The role of popular culture in shaping collective memory.
How marginalized identities utilize popular culture to create counter-narratives and challenge dominant epistemologies.
The impact of digital media and social media on the production and circulation of knowledge related to identity.
The ways in which fandom communities generate and share specialized knowledge about identity and representation.
The construction of expert and lay knowledge within popular culture and its influence on identity formation.
The representation of different ways of knowing (e.g., scientific, experiential, indigenous) in popular media.
The use of popular culture as a tool for identity exploration, affirmation, and social justice education.
The influence of specific genres (e.g., science fiction, fantasy, romance) on understandings of identity and knowledge.
The intersection of embodiment, technology, and the knowing of identity within popular culture.
https://samla.ballastacademic.com/
Devon Fitzgerald
