Fandom and Neomedia Studies

Committee Members

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Chair: R. Dr. Jay Holder Pustějovskeý Bennett, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA.

In addition to his duties as Chair and Editor-in-Chief of our journal, R. Bennett is working on a second doctorate with a dissertation that combines Jewish mysticism and a love of anime and manga. Outside school, he is a professional technical writer, copy editor, and researcher.

Co-Chair: Andrew Tague, Texas A & M University at Commerce, Commerce, Texas, USA

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Dr. Darren-Jon Ashmore, Director of FANS Japan, Professor of Anthropology Director of Japan Studies at the International College of Liberal Arts, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Kofu, Japan

Dr. Ashmore is a Leverhulme Award-winning writer, translator, actor, and anthropologist. He is the author of “Funeral For a Friend: Heroism in the Manga of Chiba Tetsuya,” and “Men Under Pressure: Manga and the Japanese Salaryman,” “The Authenticity of the Other: The Kuiraishi-no-ki and Japanese Ritual Puppet Theatre,” and many other works. He has edited several other works, including Leiji Matsumoto: Essays on the Anime and Manga Legend. His primary area of interest is the in the interpretation of culture within media, specifically the rights to signify, access and control such media as part of an overall system of describing a given society. Ashmore was educated at the University of Sheffield, where he gained a PhD in Cultural Anthropology in the specific area of Japanese Media Studies. His main area of research is the survival a variety of art forms, including Edo theatre history and the works Matsumoto Leiji. He holds the Rank of Taisa/大正 in the Order of the Scottish Samurai and is currently Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology at the International College of Liberal Arts, Yamanashi Gakuin University.

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Dr. Angela Drummond, Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Independent Scholar, Dallas, Texas, USA

Dr. Drummond is a professor of English and independent scholar in Dallas, Texas. Her research includes phenomenology and general study of anime and manga, intersections of anime and manga with American mainstream culture and with African American culture, fan studies, and semiotics in anime, manga, and music.

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Jonathan Davis, Director of Outreach, Executive Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, Independent Entrepreneur, Colleyville, Texas, USA

Mr. Davis has been a member of the FANS Association since its inception. He has a BBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of North Texas and is currently working toward a MBA in Strategic Management.  His 20+ years of logistics and 15 years convention experience have been a great asset as FANS  grown.  In addition to being a founding board member, Jonathan has recently accepted the position of Director of Outreach.

Associate Members:

Dr. Pamela Gossin, Professor of History and Literature, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA

Dr. Marc Hairston, Research Scientist, William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA

Dr. Michael Vandehey, Professor of Psychology, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas, USA

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Helen McCarthy, Co-Founder of Anime UK and Author, London, UK. Helen McCarthy is the author of the first book in English on Japanese animation and a dozen more books on Japanese popular culture. She became interested in anime in 1981, curated the first anime programme in Britain in 1990, and published Anime UK magazine, which sold internationally from 1991-1996. Her works, published in eight languages, include The Anime Encyclopedia, co-authored with Dr. Jonathan Clements, and studies of Hayao Miyazaki and Osamu Tezuka. She has also contributed to a number of scholarly publications. Her most recent book, with Dr. Darren-Jon Ashmore, is a collection of essays on the late Leiji Matsumoto.

Jonathan Tarbox, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Dr. Kyle Hammonds, Graduate Student Liaison, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Dr. Hammonds is an instructor of Film & Media Studies at the University of Oklahoma as well as an instructor of Communication, Media, and Ethics at Mid-America Christian University. His research is at the intersection of
communication, media, and culture with a special interest in studying the role of pop culture texts in discourses of race, class, and nationalism. Kyle’s book on fan communication, Movie Fandom and the Joker Attitude, is in-press for publication through Rowman & Littlefield in Spring 2024.