A syllabus? On fanfiction? It's more likely than you think.

When fandom and academics collide it typically isn’t pretty, as yesterday’s drama clearly shows us.

This year, the University of California Berkley decided to try something different in its curriculum. They went for a bold, new foray into a subculture that has only recently been gaining more visibility in the mainstream. A subculture that has often been framed by the news as an oddity or sideshow. A subculture that changes rapidly thanks to digital media, causing almost any new academic papers on it to seem outdated almost right as they are published. Yes, you guessed it. The university built a course for studying fandom. Specifically fanfiction.

And they're rather proud of it.

Called The Theory of Fanfiction, the class is dedicated to studying the phenomenon and tropes of fandom generated literature. Most of the structure rests on students reading a number of selected fanfictions, or assigned readings if you will. They are then tasked with reviewing said fics and discussing them in the classroom under the direction of a instructor (really a group of student-teachers). The fanfiction selection alone raises some eyebrows. There simply is little precedence for such a small list in academia and such an overwhelming amount of fanfic in general. What exactly determines what fic makes the cut? The popularity or infamy? Cross referencing a number of rec lists? The teacher’s personal favorites? And if that selection process is not bizarre enough, some of the readings are strangely enough paired with more classical readings. The discussion of the infamous badfic My Immortal, for instance, is paired with an excerpt from Dante’s Inferno. I cringe to think of what parallels the class might force. But I digress. The class setup sounds simple and harmless enough. Granted, the academic value of such a class is debatable, but their hearts are in the right place. Right?

If the class had continued on in its own little bubble, then sure. Probably. Few would probably have even known about the course’s existence. But more than a few feathers have been ruffled the past couple of days when the students started leaving the mandatory reviews. What really caught one fic author’s attention was the sudden influx of strangely formatted reviews. Instead of the typical more personal and informal reviews (like a standard “Great fic! I can’t wait for the next update! :D”), tumblr user waldorph noticed a bunch of oddly long and stilted reviews full of formal language and attempts at constructive criticism on their ao3 page, even though they did not ask for any.

The author and other non-student reviewers did not take kindly to the intrusion for a number of reasons. First and foremost, none of the fic authors were asked or notified about the course and the use of their works in said course. This was a huge mistake on the side of the professors, especially since 50% of the students grades rely on fandom interaction through reviewing. The authors likely did not want the sudden influx of attention from outsiders. The reviewers themselves were obviously not used to the understood but unstated etiquette of fanfic. Mostly, that the reviews aren’t really reviews in the way that most people tend to think of them. Unless the author specifically states that they want constructive criticism, most of the time people won’t leave any as it would be considered rude. Fanfiction, after all, is not meant to be rigorously scrutinized the way an academic paper might. It’s not made for publishing and should not be treated as such. It’s first and foremost for fun.

One anonymous user sums it up nicely when addressing the student-teacher (who was forced to explain when the comments turned to mudslinging and attacks on BOTH sides):

Full thread here.

Things have cooled down a bit, or as best as it can in a scant 24 hours, but the drama has stirred up a lot of important discussion on the intersection of academia and fandom culture and especially on how the former should respectfully approach the latter. Careful thought should definitely go into exploring these issues to prevent another incident from occurring in the future.

A full write-up of the drama can be found here. And more discussion on the topic can be found here, here, and here. Keep in mind that the fallout is still unfolding, so there may be a future update.