Sociology

Joseph Harris

Associate Professor, CAS Sociology

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Volunteer Basis, Potential for UROP Funding

Overview

I am doing a research project on used comic book markets that explores major changes that have happened in the comic book industry over the past 70 years (from the consolidation of publishers to the Comic Code Authority to the rise of online platforms for buying, selling, and collecting to pressing, cleaning, grading and more). If you love comic books and/or know a lot about them, then this RAship is for you. I am particularly interested in working with a student who has fairly wide-ranging knowledge (not just popular current new titles) but who understands the history and the landscape of the market (history, important comic cons, podcasts, YouTube channels, influencers, changes that have happened, etc). Some of your work will involve reading and summarizing material for the books and articles I am writing. You will also be involved in the development of an Excel spreadsheet that charts prices over time, complementing popular modern inventions like GPAnalysis. For those that have an interest in economic sociology, there may be opportunities to learn more about literature in that subfield through the production of literature reviews and annotated bibliographies.

This is a volunteer or UROP opportunity that would involve approximately 5-10 hours of work per week (with flexibility when you have exams, papers, etc).

Individual must be highly motivated and able to work independently with regular check-ins.

Please send resume and 2-3 paragraph statement of interest to Professor Joseph Harris at josephh@bu.edu. Be sure to write why you are uniquely positioned to make important contributions to the project (for example, you regularly attend comic cons, have a large collection, work at a local comic shop, grew up in the environment, are an avid reader of comics, have worked for CGC or comic auction before, etc, etc). You will receive acknowledgment for contributions you make to the project in the Acknowledgment section of published work but will not receive co-authorship.