HBO and FX’s shows might not typically be considered in an academic context, but at the Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies this weekend, presenters asked their audiences to do just that.
In its fourth year at the University, the annual conference featured panel discussions, workshops, featured speakers and a film festival.
This was the second year of the film festival, which organizer Eric Browning said he started as an opportunity to highlight the work undergraduates and alumni from the University’s film program are doing.
“I just thought we needed something that showcased our film community,” he said. “I thought it would be a nice way to add a visual component to the conference that wasn’t really happening.”
As part of the festival, short films from undergraduate students were shown at the Gish, as well as shorts and clips from alumni currently working in the film industry and a feature presentation of Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation.”
Undergraduate student Jewel White participated in a panel Friday, with classmates from her Race, Rrepresentation and Culture class, examining the HBO original series “Insecure” and what it has to say about the black female experience.
White said she believes participating in this conference will be beneficial if she choses to pursue graduate school.
“I think this will definitely be helpful because it’s given me the opportunity to learn how to do research… and understand what goes into a conference,” she said.
White said she believes conferences such as this are significant because they foster conversations about problems minority communities face.
“I think it’s important we start addressing these issues,” she said.
According to Bincy Abdul Samad, president of the Culture Club, who plans the event alongside the Popular Culture Studies Association (PCSA), that was one of the primary aims of this year’s conference.
“We (tried) to include socially relevant issues… (and) create awareness,” Abdul Samad said.
This year’s theme was “Intersections of Identities: Difference and Coalition in a Transnational Context.”
Abdul Samad said this theme allows for the showcasing of “multiple experiences.”
“We tried to make it more inclusive,” she said. “This year is more focused on race and gender.”
The Culture Club and PCSA had been planning the event since August in weekly meetings, Abdul Samad said.
“This conference is the dream and hard work of many people,” she said.
Their hard work paid off as they received 127 submissions, a significant increase from last year, with some participants coming from across the country.
President Mary Ellen Mazey praised their efforts.
“It’s a very impressive program,” she said. “(And) there isn’t anything that can be more rewarding or time consuming than putting one of these on. I thank you for what you’re doing to put BGSU on the popular culture map.”
