{"id":9970,"date":"2011-05-19T10:15:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T15:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=9970"},"modified":"2011-05-19T10:15:01","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T15:15:01","slug":"pop-culture-faculty-start-new-national-association-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2011\/05\/pop-culture-faculty-start-new-national-association-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop culture faculty start new national association, conference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joan

Joan Nicks, left, and John Burtniak take questions during the keynote presentation at the inaugural Popular Culture Association of Canada conference. Prof. Barry Grant, right, was chair.<\/p><\/div>\n

Three researchers at Brock have helped form a new nationwide association dedicated to the study of popular culture.<\/p>\n

Nick Baxter-Moore, Scott Henderson and Greg Gillespie \u2014 professors in Brock\u2019s Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film<\/a> \u2013 are at the centre of the new the Popular Culture Association of Canada<\/a> (PCA-Canada), an organization of researchers who focus on Canadian and international pop culture. It is the first organization of its kind in Canada.<\/p>\n

\"Nick

Nick Baxter-Moore<\/p><\/div>\n

It makes sense that such a group would start at Brock, said Baxter-Moore, who serves as PCA-Canada\u2019s first president. The University is a leader in the academic study of popular culture, and 10 years ago established the country\u2019s first graduate program in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur program is definitely one of the things that makes Brock unique,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The association has an eight-member executive board that includes representatives from Alberta, Ontario and Prince Edward Island. It has also founded a new journal, the Canadian Journal of Popular Culture<\/em>. The triannual publication will release its first volume later this year, and there is a call for papers for the first issue. Gillespie and Baxter-Moore are co-editors.<\/p>\n

The PCA-Canada held its inaugural conference<\/a> in Niagara Falls on May 12 to 14. About 140 attendees from as far as Australia took in a number of sessions, including a keynote talk by Joan Nicks, an adjunct professor of Brock\u2019s Communication, Popular Culture and Film, and John Burtniak, retired head of Special Collections and Archives.<\/p>\n

The pair presented \u201cMotel Culture and Tourist City \u2014 Niagara Falls, Ontario: An Illustrated Address.\u201d Using a slide show and film clips, they described the history of the city\u2019s tourist accommodations from the motels of old to the modern high-rise hotels along the river\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

Other topics included:<\/p>\n