AMS Graduate Student Spotlight—Kameron Dunn
Name: Kameron Dunn
Pronouns: he/him
Question (Q): What are your research interests, both academic and for fun, while in American Studies at UT!?
Answer (A): I research the relation between mass consumption, intimacy, and the internet, focusing on how web-based cultures forge new roads to each other to find love and connection. At the center right now is the furry fandom: a spread-out collective of folks interested in anthropomorphic animal art and role-play. I show how furries use fandom-based means like cosplay, convention-going, and visual productions to negotiate self and collective identity among one another and in the broader world.
Q: How did you make your way to American Studies as a discipline?
A: My background and primary methods involve literary studies, so I found my way into the field wanting a broader grasp on the cultural-historical and economic forces that undergird my analyses.
Q: What is the nature of your work? What method(s) do you utilize the most? How does your work align with American Studies?
A: My work involves a mix of online participant observation, textual analysis, and autoethnography, along with some cultural-historical work, too, which aligns with the interdisciplinary mission of many American Studies scholars.
Kameron Dunn presenting “Fur-gone Con-clusions: Furry Conventions and Transformation, Broadly Speaking” at the American Studies Association conference in New Orleans, November, 2022.
Q: Are you currently working on any other projects, and if so tell us about them!
A: My dissertation, entitled “Cringe Utopia: The Furry Fandom, Vernacular Aesthetics, and the Intimacy of Mass Consumption.” I’m also a freelance culture writer focusing on rural, small-town Texas events, sports, and history.
Q: How does American Studies at UT make your work possible?
A: The faculty support along with a nurturing graduate student community and the general flexibility of this program has enabled a lot of experimentation that has helped shape my work and make timely completion possible.
Q: What was your favorite thing about AMS at UT.
I love seeing everyone’s projects grow!
Bonus Q: What is a fun fact about you that you would like your colleagues, peers, and/or students to know about you?
A: I make a mean pitcher of sweet tea.