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. I am also the Outreach and Communications Editor for Transformative Works and Cultures.
Western University
Teaching Assistant (with tutorial section)
MIT 1025F: First Year Foundations for MIT [fall] (2021-2022)
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
Edited Special Issue Journals
Alberto, Maria, Effie Sapuridis, and Lesley Willard, eds. “Fandom and Platforms.” Special Issue Transformative Works and Cultures, forthcoming in Spring 2024.
Refereed Journal Articles
Sapuridis, Effie. “Gendered Fairy Tale Heroics: Ginny Weasley in The Source.” Transformative Works and Cultures, Journal of Transformative Works and Cultures, 15 Sept. 2019, https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/1687.
Marquis, Chris, and Effie Sapuridis. “Danone North America: The World's Largest B Corporation.” HKS Case Program, Harvard Kennedy School, 26 Apr. 2019, https://case.hks.harvard.edu/danone-north-america-the-worlds-largest-b-corporation/.
Multimedia
Sapuridis, Effie. “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.
Presentations
2021 “Digital Methods and Digital Fan Practices.” Moderated by Black, Suzanne and Effie Sapuridis. Fan Studies Network North America, 20-24 October 2021.
2021 “My Blood Status is Purer than Yours!: (Problematic) Hyperreality within Fanfiction and Fandom Communities.” Congress of the Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences, June 2021.
2021 “If I Went to Hogwarts…: Tiktok, Self-Insert Fanvids, and Fandom’s Face-to-Face with Fan Visibility.” Popular Culture Association, June 2021.
2020 "Pureblood for a Day: Fetishization of Wealth and the Subversion of Heteronormative Romance Tropes in Harry Potter Fanfiction." Fan Studies Network North America, 13-17 October 2020.
2020 ""So Much More Romantic!": Anne Shirley, the hyperreal troubadour, and Romantic Victorian Medievalism in Anne of Green Gables." Medievalism Transformed, 18 September 2020.
2019 "Crafting Daphne Greengrass in Fanon: An Analysis of the Creation of a Minor Role Character through Fanfiction." Fan Studies Network North America, 24-26 October 2019.
Service
University
2020-2022 Graduate Student Senator (Senate)
2021-2022 Student Experience Digital Engagement
Advisory Committee
2021 Hiring
Committee (under President Alan Shepard) for Associate VP of EDI
2019-2021 Union Steward (PSAC 610)
Society of Graduate
Students
2021-2022 Vice President Student Services
2020-2021 Speaker
Faculty of
Information & Media Studies
2020-present Member of the FIMS Peer Mentor Program
2020-present Co-Chair of the mediations Graduate Lecture
Series Committee
2020-2021 Member of the Media Studies Programming
Committee
Other
2020-present Racial Equity and Anti-Racism Working Group
(Huron Writing Services)
2018-present Social Media Staffer, Fanlore.Org
Membership
CCA -- Canadian Communication Association [2019-present]
YASA -- Young Adult Studies Association [2020-present]
SCMS -- Society for Cinema and Media Studies [2019-present]
PCA -- Popular Culture Association [2019-present]
FSNNA -- Fan Studies North America [2018-present]
Editorial Experience
2021-present Outreach and Communications 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
Basic Latex skills
Qualtrics
Languages
English (native)
French (fluent)
Greek (fluent)
