Mr. Benjamin Woo, BAH, MA
℅ School of Communication
Simon Fraser University
K9671-8888 University Drive
Burnaby, BC
Canada V5A 1S6
bmw3@sfu.ca
Research Interests
I situate my research and teaching between communication and cultural studies, with a particular emphasis on the cultural environment constituted by consumer capitalism. My current research with the nerd subculture reflects this broad approach: I am interested in how people use material and cultural commodities as resources in processes of identity and group formation and how participation in these processes shapes subjectivity and influences social action.
My research interests might be stated more schematically as follows:
- subculture theory and the cultural bases of social organization;
- Marxian perspectives on consumer society;
- the British cultural studies tradition;
- comic books and graphic novels;
- children’s media culture and the cultural rights of children.
Publications and Presentations
Articles
forthcoming. “Subculture Theory and the Fetishism of Style.” Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology 2(1).
2008. “An Age-Old Problem: Problematics of Comic Book Historiography.” International Journal of Comic Art 10:268–279.
Book Chapters
forthcoming. “Reconsidering Comics Journalism: Information and Experience in Joe Sacco’s Palestine.” In Out of the Gutter: Reading Comic Books and Graphic Novels, edited by J. Goggin and D. Hassler-Forest. New York: Macfarland. 18 pp.
Kline, Stephen and Benjamin Woo. 2008. “Toxic Gaming? On the Problems of Regulating Play.” Pp. 97–104 in Communications in Question: Competing Perspectives on Controversial Issues in Communication Studies, edited by J. Greenberg and C. Elliott. Toronto: Thomson-Nelson.
Reviews
2008. [Review of the exhibition Krazy! The delirious world of anime + comics + video games + art]. International Journal of Comic Art 10:821–823.
Selected Conference Presentations
2008, June. “‘White Kids Love Hip-hop’: Nerdcore and the Performance of Subcultural Identity.” Canadian Communication Association conference. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.
2007, October. “The Clash of Civility and the Right to Communicate: The Jyllands-Posten Mohammed Cartoons.” Union for Democratic Communication conference. SFU, Vancouver, BC.
2007, October. “An Age-old Problem: Problematics of Comic-book Historiography.” International Comic Arts Forum. Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA.
(2006, October). The true North, super-strong and free: ‘Borealism’ and identity in Canadian comic books. International Comic Arts Festival. Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA.
(2005, August). “Guttered Stories: The Documentary Comics of Joe Sacco.” Visible Evidence XII. Concordia University, Montreal, QC.
2005, June. “Acquiring the Language of Identity: The Comics of Seth, Chester brown, and Joe Matt within Canadian Cultural Discourse.” Canadian Communication Association conference. University of Western Ontario, London, ON.
Education
2007–Present: PhD Communication (SFU)
Nerds! A Media-Ethnographic Case Study in Subculture Theory
Supervisor: Dr. Gary McCarron, School of Communication
2004–2006: MA Communication (SFU)
Red and White Tights: Representations of National Identity in Canadian Comic Books
Supervisor: Dr. Gary McCarron, School of Communication
2000–2004: BAH Film Studies & Sociology (Queen’s)
Honour’s thesis: Untangling Comics
Supervisor: Dr. Blaine Allan, Dept. of Film and Media