Effie [she/her]
I am a Media Studies PhD student in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University. I hold a Master’s degree in English literature from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
My work centers on digital humanities, online fan communities and fan works, young adult media, and feminist media studies. More specifically, my work examines fan works emerging from YA media [ie, literature, movies, TV shows, etc], as well as how fans engage with these works across a variety of media platforms.
In Progress Projects
Currently, I am working on: an examination of 'self-insert fanvids' by fans of color on TikTok, an analysis of problematic engagement with racist ideologies in the Harry Potter fandom, and a roundtable discussion on the use of the digital humanities in fan studies. I am also working on expanding previous conference presentations into papers for publication.
My work has been published in Transformative Works and Cultures. Additionally, I am the founder and editor of Fterota Logia, an online young adult literary magazine, as well as the Reviews Editor for the Journal of Fandom Studies.
Western University
Teaching Assistant
MIT 1020E: Intro Media Studies [year-long] (2020-2021)
MIT 1020E: Intro to Media Studies [year-long] (2019-2020)
University of Massachusetts Boston
Instructor of Record
ENG 273G: The Art of Fiction (F2016)
ENG 262G: The Art of Literature (F2015, S2016)
Teaching Assistant
ENG 258 Intro to World Cinema (S2015)
Other Teaching Experience
2020-present Graduate Fellow: Huron University Writing Services
2017-present Freelance Tutor [K-12, College, SAT/ACT Prep]
2017-2019 Academic/College Essay/Test Prep Tutor: JBG Educational Group
Research Experience
2021-present Desire in Sight: The Aesthetics of Knowledge Organization
SSHRC Insight Grant research project
PI: Dr. Melissa Adler
2020-present What Were Comics? Research Project
SSHRC-funded research project
PIs: Dr. Benjamin Woo, Dr. Bart Beatty, Dr. Nick Sousanis
Numbered comic book panels; numbered dialogue in comic book panels [200+ media objects]
2020 “The Use of Tags in Social Media: Deixis,
Indexicality and the organization of Digital Reality”
A project of The CulturePlex Lab at Western University
Conducted a literature review relevant to the
subject
2017-2019 Dr. Chris Marquis (Harvard Kennedy School / Cornell SC Johnson College of Business)
Researched and drafted a non-fiction manuscript on B Lab and B Corporations; published in September 2020 titled “Better Business: How the B Corp Movement is Remaking Capitalism”.
Researched, drafted, and published a case study for the Harvard Kennedy School.
2015-2016 Dr. Elizabeth Fay (University of Massachusetts Boston)
Editorial Assistant to Dr. Fay on the New Urban Atlantic book series, under Palgrave Macmillan.
2015 50th Anniversary Oral History Project (University of Massachusetts Boston)
Compiled and curated an oral history project to commemorate the school’s 50th anniversary.
Publications
Sapuridis, Effie. 2021. "Wealth and Heteronormative Romance Tropes in Harry Potter Fan Fiction" [multimedia]. In "Fan Studies Pedagogies," edited by Paul Booth and Regina Yung Lee, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 35. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2021.2079.
Sapuridis, Effie.
“Gendered Fairy Tale Heroics: Ginny Weasley in The Source.” Transformative
Works and Cultures, vol. 30, 2019, doi:10.3983/twc.2019.1687.
Marquis, Chris and Effie Sapuridis. Danone North
America: The World’s Largest B Corporation. Boston: Harvard Kennedy School Case
Program, 2019.
Presentations
Sapuridis, Effie. "My Blood Status is Purer than Yours!: (Problematic) Hyperreality within Fanfiction and Fandom Communities." Canadian Communications Association at CONGRESS 2021, June 2021, Virtual. Paper Presentation.
Sapuridis, Effie. "If I Went to Hogwarts…: Tiktok, Self-Insert Fanvids, and Fandom’s Face-to-Face with Fan Visibility." Popular Culture Association, June 2021, Virtual. Paper Presentation.
Sapuridis, Effie. "Pureblood for a Day: Fetishization of Wealth and the Subversion of Heteronormative Romance Tropes in Harry Potter Fanfiction." Fan Studies Network North America, October 2020, Virtual. Poster Session.
Sapuridis, Effie. ""So Much More Romantic!": Anne Shirley, the hyperreal troubadour, and Romantic Victorian Medievalism in Anne of Green Gables." Medievalism Transformed, September 18 2020, University of Bangor, Virtual. Paper Presentation.
Sapuridis,
Effie. "Crafting Daphne Greengrass in Fanon: An Analysis of the Creation
of a Minor Role Character through Fanfiction." Fan Studies Network North
America, 24 October 2019, DuPaul University, Chicago, IN. Poster Session.
Service
University
2020-2022 Graduate Student Senator (Senate)
2019-2021 Union Steward (PSAC 610)
Society of Graduate Students
2020-2021 Speaker
Faculty of Information & Media Studies
2020-2022 FIMS Peer Mentor Program Committee
2020-2021 Media Studies Programming Committee
2020-2021 mediations Graduate Lecture Series Committee
Other
2020-2021 Racial Equity and Anti-Racism Working Group (Huron Writing Services)
2018-present Social Media Staffer, Fanlore.Org
Membership
2020-2021
CCA -- Canadian Communication Association
YASA -- Young Adult Studies Association
SCMS -- Society for Cinema and Media Studies
PCA -- Popular Culture Association
2019-2020
CCA -- Canadian Communication Association
SCMS -- Society for Cinema and Media Studies
PCA -- Popular Culture Association
Editorial Experience
2021-present Symposium Editor (Transformative Works and Cultures)
2019-present Reviews Editor (Journal of Fandom Studies)
2017-present Founder & Editor in Chief (Fterota Logia)
2015-present Social Media Manager and Editorial Assistant (AGNI)
2015 Editorial Assistant (Consequence)
2010-2013 Editorial Assistant (Shoreline Press)
Additional Skills
Grant-writing
Basic Python skills
Languages
English (native)
French (fluent)
Greek (fluent)