GeekEd hosts a trio of panels on diversity and mental health in pop culture

By Ani Bundel

GeekEd first started at San Diego Comic-Con again in 2011 as a group of teachers who additionally occurred to be nerds. The program, which was co-founded by Dr. Emily Sandoval, has slowly grown over the past decade into a powerhouse sequence of panels yearly the place nerd culture and academia cross their streams. Sunday afternoon on the San Diego Public Library was devoted to “GeekEd” panels utilizing totally different features of fan culture to speak about totally different features of diversity confronted throughout each the tutorial world and fandom

Dr. Sandoval opened the trio of panels with “The Marvels.” She introduced the extremely adorned panel of UC Berkeley’s Dr. Sunny Lee, UC Santa Cruz’s Alex Belisario, the Pace Center’s Geralyn Williams, CSU Fullerton’s Dr. Martha Enciso, and UC Irvine’s Dr. Marcelle Hayashida to speak nerd culture and academia for ladies of all totally different stripes.

The panel mentioned their favourite non-white male heroes in fashionable culture, and how they use their nerd cred to hook up with their college students. They additionally cited the heroes they maintain as much as emulate as they push into male-dominated areas. They additionally mentioned what upsets them in fandom, together with in incapacity to provide girls interiority or aren’t prepared to place in the work to discover the fact of being a lady in the superhero house. (That included a spirited dialogue of if She-Hulk was value it as a result of it stayed so floor stage in a comedy realm, somewhat than exploring the deeper elements of Jennifer’s experiences.)

The second panel, “Caring for the Nerd Mind,” was the identical dialogue, however angled for these working in increased training and mental health discussing the functions of their fandom to attach with college students in disaster. University of Oklahoma’s Dr. David Surratt led a panel of Stanford’s Christine Catipon, College of the Siskiyous’ JonJon Junpradub, and USC’s Edgar Palmer and Greedley F. Harris III in discussing learn how to get college students to belief them. Palmer’s perspective was particularly fascinating, as in contrast to the others, he’s not an educator or a mental health professional, however a first line responder. As a cop, who youngsters don’t belief on sight, his workplace being stuffed with nerdy toys is a step in direction of serving to them view him as a human being, and somebody they will speak to. He additionally spoke frankly concerning the suicide disaster on campus and the steps USC took to coach their first responders and rent those that have higher expertise to deal with these types of conditions.

The ultimate GeekEd panel of the day (and the conference) was “Lessons from The Snap,” which moderator UCLA’s Brian MacDonald stated is the panel that tied these discussions collectively. Since March of 2020, increased training professionals needed to change the best way they approached working with college students and colleagues, not simply going to digital and then again, however a entire lot of social change that occurred in between from Black Lives Mater to the trans neighborhood talking up for the primary time as a group. MacDonald additionally confused that although the panel has a enjoyable title referring to the Marvel “Snap,” however that he is aware of the pandemic was and isn’t any laughing method.

MacDonald’s panel featured the return of Alfred Day, plus the brand new additions, USC’s Peter Limthongviratn, Occidental College’s Aysa Cook, and La’Tonya Rease Miles, a Higher Ed Consultant. The group mentioned one of the massive issues being the shortage of college students and college. Students have began questioning the worth of faculty, and taking hole years, or heading into the workforce. There’s additionally a lot of those that dropped out, not simply in the course of the pandemic, however previous to it. At the identical time, there’s a dearth of college. The pandemic made a lot of folks rethink their life selections, and stroll away wholesale from their chosen career. It’s an comprehensible response to the worldwide trauma of folks dying en masse, and as Day reminded us (as if we may overlook) a contentious election that ended with an rebel.

As Day sees it, pop culture isn’t simply an escape, however how we’re processing this large change we’re experiencing. It’s not simply a technique to attain out to college students, it’s the best way we will work collectively to return out the opposite facet. And it’s the best way we will converse up for ourselves and establishments attempt to pressure us all again to the outdated mannequin, as a substitute of embracing the longer term. It was a hopeful dialogue, match for the ending of one of essentially the most radically totally different SDCCs in current reminiscence. May all of us use pop culture to assist ourselves discover a approach ahead.

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