UBC Pop Culture Cluster

The Pop Culture Cluster supports academic and public-facing scholarship on popular media and popular culture at UBC.

The UBC Pop Culture Cluster is located at UBC Vancouver, which is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. The land it is situated on has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history, and traditions from one generation to the next on this site.

News

Jul 20, 2026

Call for Student Graphic Artists for Text Encoding Initiative Conference!

The UBC Comics Studies Cluster and the Text Encoding Initiative Conference Organizing Committee invite applications from up to three student graphic artists/illustrators to create a graphic recording or a 1-2-page comic summarizing the highlights for three events happening at the international Text Encoding Initiative conference in Vancouver August 10-14, 2026. Artists should expect to engage with themes and topics around digital humanities, critical encoding methods, and computational markup practices.

Call for Artists, News

Jun 23, 2026

Register now for the MACL Graduate Student Conference, “Memories & Dreams.” (July 17-18)

The MACL Graduate Student Conference, "Memories & Dreams: Exploring Perspectives on Past, Future and Possibility in Materials for Young People," will happen on UBC's Point Grey campus from July 17-18, 2026. Keynotes include Dr. Hannah McGregor (SFU) and artist Shizuka Kai. Registration open.

Announcements

May 20, 2026

UBC Comics Studies Cluster Director Hosts Honorary Degree Recipient Diana Schutz

Dr. Elizabeth “Biz” Nijdam was invited to serve as program host for Diana Schutz, who received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of British Columbia at the Spring 2026 Congregation ceremony on May 20, 2026. A Canadian-born writer, editor, teacher, and mentor, Schutz is one of the most influential figures in North American […]

Comics Studies, News

May 19, 2026

Critical Play Lab in The Conversation: “Not just a fun hobby: Board games can help build connections and reduce stress”

Researchers at the University of Plymouth recently confirmed what board game fans and role-playing game (RPG) enthusiasts have known for decades: that tabletop games “enhance well-being, foster inclusion, and support learning, with strong evidence that games improve engagement.” The researchers were particularly interested in how board games benefit people who display autistic traits, but tabletop gaming has social benefits that support personal well-being for everyone.

Critical Play Lab, News

Upcoming Events

• There are currently no upcoming events