Fandom can save the world!

This first of its kind, actionable and inspirational resource provides the tools and motivation necessary for pop culture fans to make a difference—while having fun!
 
Fandoms are united as a community because of the power of story. And it’s exactly the magical alchemy forged when mixing story and community that has helped fandoms across the world feed thousands of hungry children, donate countless books, build schools, register voters, disrupt online hate speech, and save lives through crafting PPE for COVID-19 frontline workers, natural disaster response, and mental health crisis support. 
 
Fandom Acts of Kindness not only tells the stories of the good fans have done in the world but serves as a dungeon master’s guide to how to be a hero yourself. Perfect for those who want to inspire others, organize collective action, sustain, and nurture your own mental health and creativity, and do it all through a pop culture perspective. 

Tanya Cook, PhD, (she/her) is a sociology professor at the Community College of Aurora near Denver, CO. In 2019, Cook was one of 26 community college faculty awarded a research grant from Mellon/ACLS to support sociological research on fandom. Her research and writing interests include social movements, sociological theory, and popular culture. Cook has written articles for The Journal of Fandom Studies and The Journal of Screenwriting that feature Game of Thrones and Wynonna Earp, respectively. She was named the Inclusive Excellence Faculty of the Year in 2018 by her college for her efforts to engage diversity in the classroom. 
 
Kaela Joseph, PhD, (she/her) works as a staff psychologist and program manager at the San Francisco VA. She completed her PhD in clinical psychology, with an emphasis in LGBTQ psychology, at Palo Alto University where she now supervises trainees in the University’s community-based Sex and Gender Identities Clinic. In addition to fandom studies, Joseph’s research interests include LGBTQ psychology, health psychology, health equity, and lived experience of mental illness among healthcare workers. Joseph has been an invited speaker on topics concerning gender and sexuality at Palo Alto University and the University of California San Francisco’s School of Medicine. She has also presented on these topics at academic conferences of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the American Association of Sex Educators Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), and the Association of VA Psychology Leaders (AVAPL).