Nicole Espinosa (Interdisciplinary, Ethnic, and Gender Studies), Amber Williams (Psychology), and Erika Abad (Interdisciplinary, Ethnic, and Gender Studies) presented during ClexaCon's first Academic Lab earlier this month. Espinosa, a gender and sexuality studies student and 2017-18 McNair Scholar, and Williams, a master's student, presented their original research regarding LGBT content and audience responses. Their panel was titled "LGBT Fanning the Page and the Screen – How We Read, See, and React to Queer Content." Williams talked about her research on how consumers engage in confirmation bias when consuming queer content. Espinosa extended their discussion on fan responses to tropes, integrating black feminist media concerns regarding which deaths are worth grieving. Abad presented on building and revising her service-learning "Hashtag, Fandom, and Social Movements" class.
