![Ross Garner BA (Cardiff), MA (Bristol), PhD (Cardiff)](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/2167?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Dr Ross Garner
(he/him)
BA (Cardiff), MA (Bristol), PhD (Cardiff)
Senior Lecturer in Spatial and Material Cultures of Media Consumption
- Media commentator
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Dr Ross Garner is Senior Lecturer in the Spatial and Material Cultures of Media Consumption in the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies. I am Course Director of the BA Media and Communications and I teach two modules across the BA programmes. I joined JOMEC in September 2012 after having previously taught at the University of South Wales and the University of Worcester.
My primary research interests focus around media spaces and places, media tourism, transmedia tourism, the Experience Economy, augmented reality, and location-based experiences. I mostly research these topics in relation to intersections with fan and audience studies and/or cult media franchises - especially Pokemon and Jurassic Park/World. This focus produces overlaps with other research ares, such as how media industries understand and target fan audiences, and merchandising/collector cultures.
I am currently Co-Investigator on the Media Tourism compoment of the UKRI-funded project media.cymru. Working alongside Cardiff-based content producers Nimble Productions, this project considers how Cardiff can harness the possibilities of media-based tourism attractions within the city as a method for boosting innovation, creativity, and employment. Previously, and working alongside Naomi Dunstan, I was one of the primary researchers on the AHRC/REACT-funded project Fans on Foot which explored the possibilities of developing connected objects to enhance the experiences of media fans visiting locations used for the filming of their favourite TV programmes.
As of January 2023, I am part of the Editorial Team for the journal Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture.
I am currently supervising three PhD students who are researching areas connected to fan studies and cult media. I welcome enquiries from prospective Doctorate students in these areas, especially if they relate to media/fan spaces, and/or media tourism.
Publication
2025
- Garner, R. 2025. Curating popular dinosaur ephemera: Reflections on the "Aca-Fan Archivist" and sub/cultural capital. In: Lamerichs, N., Zarzycka, A. and Ciesielska, D. eds. Affect in Fandom: Fan Creators and Productivity. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press, pp. 149-169., (10.1515/9789048554706-008)
2024
- Garner, R. 2024. On wormholes, link cables, and the limitations of transmedia. In: Booth, P. ed. Entering the Multiverse. New York: Routledge, (10.4324/9781003480846-29)
2023
- Garner, R. 2023. Jurassic Park and dinosaur fandom. In: Melia, M. ed. The Jurassic Park Book: New Perspectives on the Classic 1990s Blockbuster. London and New York: Bloomsbury, pp. 97-112.
- Garner, R. 2023. The Doctor Who figurine collection. In: Booth, P. and Hills, M. eds. Adventures Across Space and Time: A Doctor Who Reader. London and New York: Bloomsbury, pp. 47-54.
2022
- Stanfill, M. and Garner, R. 2022. Spotlight: fan and audience studies scholarly interest group.. Journal of Cinema and Media Studies 62(1), pp. 1-3.
2021
- Garner, R. 2021. Mimetic tangible nostalgia and spatial cosplay: replica merchandise and place in fandom's material cultures. In: Leggatt, M. ed. Was it Yesterday? Nostalgia in Contemporary Film and Television. Horizons of Cinema SUNY Press, pp. 71-87.
- Morimoto, L. et al. 2021. Roundtable: Transcultural fan studies in practice: a conversation. Transformative Works and Cultures 35 (10.3983/twc.2021.1975)
- Garner, R. 2021. Acafan identity, communities of practice, and vocational poaching. Transformative Works and Cultures 35 (10.3983/twc.2021.1985)
- Garner, R. 2021. Doctor Who and the dinosaurs: spectacle, monstrosity, melodrama and ideology in dinosaur mediations. In: Harmes, M. K. and Orthia, L. A. eds. Doctor Who and Science: Essays on Ideas, Identities and Ideologies in the Series. McFarland and Company, Inc., pp. 173-189.
2020
- Garner, R. 2020. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom by J. A. Bayona [Review]. Science Fiction Film and Television 13(3), pp. 449-454.
2019
- Garner, R. 2019. Finding Nemo’s spaces: Defining and exploring transmedia tourism. JOMEC Journal(14), pp. 11-32. (10.18573/jomec.195)
- Garner, R. 2019. Transmedia Tourism editorial. JOMEC Journal(14), pp. 1-10. (10.18573/jomec.194)
- Garner, R. 2019. The Mandalorian variation: gender, institutionality, and siscursive constraints in Star Wars rebels. In: Disney's Star Wars: Forces of Production, Promotion, and Reception. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, pp. 109-122.
2018
- Garner, R. 2018. Not my lifeblood: autoethnography, affective fluctuations and popular music antifandom. In: Booth, P. ed. A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies. London: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 91-106., (10.1002/9781119237211.ch6)
- Garner, R. 2018. Affective textualities, generalizations and focalizations: fan reactions to Twin Peaks's 2014 paratextual return. The Journal of Fandom Studies 6(1), pp. 63-80. (10.1386/jfs.6.1.63_1)
2017
- Garner, R. 2017. Insecure positions, heteronomous autonomy and tourism-cultural capital: a Bourdieusian reading of tour guides on BBC Worldwide's Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour. Tourist Studies 17(4), pp. 426-442. (10.1177/1468797616680851)
- Garner, R. 2017. Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (Brad Bird 2015). Journal of Science Fiction Film and Television 10(2), pp. 294-298.
- Garner, R. 2017. "It is happening again": paratextuality 'quality' and nostalgia in Twin Peaks's dispersed anniversary. Series - International Journal of TV Serial Narratives 2(2), pp. 41-54. (10.6092/issn.2421-454X/6590)
2016
- Garner, R. and Shimabukuro, K. 2016. IN FOCUS: Returning to the Red Room - Twin Peaks at twenty-five: Editor's introduction. Cinema Journal 55(3), pp. 118-120. (10.1353/cj.2016.0036)
- Garner, R. 2016. "The series that changed television"? Twin Peaks, "classic" status and temporal capital. Cinema Journal 55(3), pp. 137-142. (10.1353/cj.2016.0020)
- Garner, R. 2016. Going legendary: merchandising, transmediality and nostalgia in Power Rangers Super Megaforce. Presented at: Material Cultures of Television, University of Hull, Hull, UK, 21-22 March 2016.
- Garner, R. P. 2016. Symbolic and cued immersion: paratextual framing strategies on the Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour. Popular Communication 14(2), pp. 86-98. (10.1080/15405702.2016.1153101)
- Garner, R. 2016. Crime drama and channel branding: ITV and Broadchurch. In: McElroy, R. ed. Contemporary British Television Crime Drama: Cops on the Box. Routledge, pp. 139-153.
2015
- Garner, R. 2015. Brand reconciliation? A case study of ITV's 2013 rebrand. Critical Studies in Television: An International Journal of Television Studies 10(1), pp. 3-23. (10.7227/CST.10.1.2)
- Garner, R. 2015. "It is happening again": Twin Peaks and the "dispersed anniversary". Presented at: SCMS - Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference 2015, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 25-29 March 2015.
- Garner, R. 2015. "It is happening again": Twin Peaks and the "dispersed anniversary". Presented at: I'll See You Again in 25 Years: The Return of Twin Peaks and Generations of Cult TV, University of Salford, UK, 21-22 May 2015.
2014
- Garner, R. 2014. "The series that changed television": Twin Peaks, "classic" status and temporal capital. Presented at: SCMS - Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference 2014, Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Seattle, WA, USA, 19-23 March 2014.
- Garner, R. 2014. On a (different) plain? Cult geography, authenticity and Nirvana fandom. Presented at: Fan Studies Network Conference 2014, Regent's University, London, UK, 27-28 September 2014.
- Garner, R. 2014. Celebrating and critiquing "past" and "present"? The intersection between nostalgia and public service discourses in BBC1's Ashes to Ashes. In: Machin, D. ed. Visual Communication. Handbooks of Communication Science Vol. 4. De Gruyter, pp. 405-425.
2013
- Garner, R. 2013. Friends reunited? Authorship discourses and brand management for the Sarah Jane Adventures 'Death of the Doctor'.. In: O'Day, A. ed. Doctor Who, the eleventh hour: a critical celebration of the Matt Smith and Steven Moffat era. Who watching London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 246-264.
- Garner, R. 2013. Towards an inclusive approach? Theorising nostalgia through social constructionism. Presented at: Nostalgias: Visualising Longing, Margate, UK, 9-10 November 2013.
- Garner, R. 2013. Remembering Sarah Jane: Intradiegetic allusions, embodied presence/absence and nostalgia. In: Mellor, D., Hills, M. and Earl, B. eds. New Dimensions of Doctor Who: Adventures in Space, Time and Television. Reading Contemporary Television London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 192-215.
- Garner, R. 2013. Access denied: Intertextual barricades and public service broadcasting in Torchwood. In: Williams, R. ed. Torchwood Declassified: Investigating Mainstream Cult Television. Investigating Cult TV Series London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 13-32.
- Garner, R. 2013. Simultaneously 'quality' and 'popular': Layered polysemy and nostalgic discourse in 'Doctor Who' (BBC 2005- ). Presented at: Doctor Who: Walking in Eternity: An Interdisciplinary Conference Celebrating 50 Years of Adventures in Time and Space, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK, 3-5 September 2013.
- Garner, R. 2013. Investigating 'Life on Mars': The contextual nature of 'classic' TV. Presented at: Cops on the Box: Crime Drama on UK TV Screens, University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK, 15 March 2013.
- Garner, R. 2013. Nostalgia and post-2005 British time travel dramas: A semiotic analysis of a television genre cycle. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2011
- Garner, R. 2011. A love that spans all ages?: Interrogating the 'mainstream' appeal of ITV1's 'Lost in Austen' (2008). Presented at: Alien Nation: A Conference on British Telefantasy, Northumbria University, UK, 20-21 July 2011.
2010
- Garner, R. 2010. Access denied: Intertextual barricades and public service broadcasting in 'Torchwood'. Presented at: Investigating Torchwood: Text, Context, Audiences, University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK, 18 June 2010.
- Garner, R. 2010. "Don't You Forget About Me": Intertextuality and generic anchoring in The Sarah Jane Adventures. In: Garner, R., Beattie, M. and McCormack, U. eds. Impossible Worlds, Impossible Things: Cultural Perspectives on Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishers, pp. 161-181.
2009
- Garner, R. 2009. The curious case of Amanda Price: Genre cycles, 'constrained innovation' and 'Lost in Austen' as time travel for a female audience. Presented at: Science Fiction across Media: Adaptation/Novelisation, Faculty of Arts, K U Leuven, Netherlands, 28-30 May 2009.
2008
- Garner, R. 2008. What glows beneath: Affective nostalgia in 'Life on Mars'. Presented at: 5th Annual MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference, University of Sussex, UK, 1-2 July 2008.
Adrannau llyfrau
- Garner, R. 2025. Curating popular dinosaur ephemera: Reflections on the "Aca-Fan Archivist" and sub/cultural capital. In: Lamerichs, N., Zarzycka, A. and Ciesielska, D. eds. Affect in Fandom: Fan Creators and Productivity. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press, pp. 149-169., (10.1515/9789048554706-008)
- Garner, R. 2024. On wormholes, link cables, and the limitations of transmedia. In: Booth, P. ed. Entering the Multiverse. New York: Routledge, (10.4324/9781003480846-29)
- Garner, R. 2023. Jurassic Park and dinosaur fandom. In: Melia, M. ed. The Jurassic Park Book: New Perspectives on the Classic 1990s Blockbuster. London and New York: Bloomsbury, pp. 97-112.
- Garner, R. 2023. The Doctor Who figurine collection. In: Booth, P. and Hills, M. eds. Adventures Across Space and Time: A Doctor Who Reader. London and New York: Bloomsbury, pp. 47-54.
- Garner, R. 2021. Mimetic tangible nostalgia and spatial cosplay: replica merchandise and place in fandom's material cultures. In: Leggatt, M. ed. Was it Yesterday? Nostalgia in Contemporary Film and Television. Horizons of Cinema SUNY Press, pp. 71-87.
- Garner, R. 2021. Doctor Who and the dinosaurs: spectacle, monstrosity, melodrama and ideology in dinosaur mediations. In: Harmes, M. K. and Orthia, L. A. eds. Doctor Who and Science: Essays on Ideas, Identities and Ideologies in the Series. McFarland and Company, Inc., pp. 173-189.
- Garner, R. 2019. The Mandalorian variation: gender, institutionality, and siscursive constraints in Star Wars rebels. In: Disney's Star Wars: Forces of Production, Promotion, and Reception. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, pp. 109-122.
- Garner, R. 2018. Not my lifeblood: autoethnography, affective fluctuations and popular music antifandom. In: Booth, P. ed. A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies. London: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 91-106., (10.1002/9781119237211.ch6)
- Garner, R. 2016. Crime drama and channel branding: ITV and Broadchurch. In: McElroy, R. ed. Contemporary British Television Crime Drama: Cops on the Box. Routledge, pp. 139-153.
- Garner, R. 2014. Celebrating and critiquing "past" and "present"? The intersection between nostalgia and public service discourses in BBC1's Ashes to Ashes. In: Machin, D. ed. Visual Communication. Handbooks of Communication Science Vol. 4. De Gruyter, pp. 405-425.
- Garner, R. 2013. Friends reunited? Authorship discourses and brand management for the Sarah Jane Adventures 'Death of the Doctor'.. In: O'Day, A. ed. Doctor Who, the eleventh hour: a critical celebration of the Matt Smith and Steven Moffat era. Who watching London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 246-264.
- Garner, R. 2013. Remembering Sarah Jane: Intradiegetic allusions, embodied presence/absence and nostalgia. In: Mellor, D., Hills, M. and Earl, B. eds. New Dimensions of Doctor Who: Adventures in Space, Time and Television. Reading Contemporary Television London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 192-215.
- Garner, R. 2013. Access denied: Intertextual barricades and public service broadcasting in Torchwood. In: Williams, R. ed. Torchwood Declassified: Investigating Mainstream Cult Television. Investigating Cult TV Series London: I. B. Tauris, pp. 13-32.
- Garner, R. 2010. "Don't You Forget About Me": Intertextuality and generic anchoring in The Sarah Jane Adventures. In: Garner, R., Beattie, M. and McCormack, U. eds. Impossible Worlds, Impossible Things: Cultural Perspectives on Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishers, pp. 161-181.
Cynadleddau
- Garner, R. 2016. Going legendary: merchandising, transmediality and nostalgia in Power Rangers Super Megaforce. Presented at: Material Cultures of Television, University of Hull, Hull, UK, 21-22 March 2016.
- Garner, R. 2015. "It is happening again": Twin Peaks and the "dispersed anniversary". Presented at: SCMS - Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference 2015, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 25-29 March 2015.
- Garner, R. 2015. "It is happening again": Twin Peaks and the "dispersed anniversary". Presented at: I'll See You Again in 25 Years: The Return of Twin Peaks and Generations of Cult TV, University of Salford, UK, 21-22 May 2015.
- Garner, R. 2014. "The series that changed television": Twin Peaks, "classic" status and temporal capital. Presented at: SCMS - Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference 2014, Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Seattle, WA, USA, 19-23 March 2014.
- Garner, R. 2014. On a (different) plain? Cult geography, authenticity and Nirvana fandom. Presented at: Fan Studies Network Conference 2014, Regent's University, London, UK, 27-28 September 2014.
- Garner, R. 2013. Towards an inclusive approach? Theorising nostalgia through social constructionism. Presented at: Nostalgias: Visualising Longing, Margate, UK, 9-10 November 2013.
- Garner, R. 2013. Simultaneously 'quality' and 'popular': Layered polysemy and nostalgic discourse in 'Doctor Who' (BBC 2005- ). Presented at: Doctor Who: Walking in Eternity: An Interdisciplinary Conference Celebrating 50 Years of Adventures in Time and Space, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK, 3-5 September 2013.
- Garner, R. 2013. Investigating 'Life on Mars': The contextual nature of 'classic' TV. Presented at: Cops on the Box: Crime Drama on UK TV Screens, University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK, 15 March 2013.
- Garner, R. 2011. A love that spans all ages?: Interrogating the 'mainstream' appeal of ITV1's 'Lost in Austen' (2008). Presented at: Alien Nation: A Conference on British Telefantasy, Northumbria University, UK, 20-21 July 2011.
- Garner, R. 2010. Access denied: Intertextual barricades and public service broadcasting in 'Torchwood'. Presented at: Investigating Torchwood: Text, Context, Audiences, University of Glamorgan, Wales, UK, 18 June 2010.
- Garner, R. 2009. The curious case of Amanda Price: Genre cycles, 'constrained innovation' and 'Lost in Austen' as time travel for a female audience. Presented at: Science Fiction across Media: Adaptation/Novelisation, Faculty of Arts, K U Leuven, Netherlands, 28-30 May 2009.
- Garner, R. 2008. What glows beneath: Affective nostalgia in 'Life on Mars'. Presented at: 5th Annual MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference, University of Sussex, UK, 1-2 July 2008.
Erthyglau
- Stanfill, M. and Garner, R. 2022. Spotlight: fan and audience studies scholarly interest group.. Journal of Cinema and Media Studies 62(1), pp. 1-3.
- Morimoto, L. et al. 2021. Roundtable: Transcultural fan studies in practice: a conversation. Transformative Works and Cultures 35 (10.3983/twc.2021.1975)
- Garner, R. 2021. Acafan identity, communities of practice, and vocational poaching. Transformative Works and Cultures 35 (10.3983/twc.2021.1985)
- Garner, R. 2020. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom by J. A. Bayona [Review]. Science Fiction Film and Television 13(3), pp. 449-454.
- Garner, R. 2019. Finding Nemo’s spaces: Defining and exploring transmedia tourism. JOMEC Journal(14), pp. 11-32. (10.18573/jomec.195)
- Garner, R. 2019. Transmedia Tourism editorial. JOMEC Journal(14), pp. 1-10. (10.18573/jomec.194)
- Garner, R. 2018. Affective textualities, generalizations and focalizations: fan reactions to Twin Peaks's 2014 paratextual return. The Journal of Fandom Studies 6(1), pp. 63-80. (10.1386/jfs.6.1.63_1)
- Garner, R. 2017. Insecure positions, heteronomous autonomy and tourism-cultural capital: a Bourdieusian reading of tour guides on BBC Worldwide's Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour. Tourist Studies 17(4), pp. 426-442. (10.1177/1468797616680851)
- Garner, R. 2017. Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (Brad Bird 2015). Journal of Science Fiction Film and Television 10(2), pp. 294-298.
- Garner, R. 2017. "It is happening again": paratextuality 'quality' and nostalgia in Twin Peaks's dispersed anniversary. Series - International Journal of TV Serial Narratives 2(2), pp. 41-54. (10.6092/issn.2421-454X/6590)
- Garner, R. and Shimabukuro, K. 2016. IN FOCUS: Returning to the Red Room - Twin Peaks at twenty-five: Editor's introduction. Cinema Journal 55(3), pp. 118-120. (10.1353/cj.2016.0036)
- Garner, R. 2016. "The series that changed television"? Twin Peaks, "classic" status and temporal capital. Cinema Journal 55(3), pp. 137-142. (10.1353/cj.2016.0020)
- Garner, R. P. 2016. Symbolic and cued immersion: paratextual framing strategies on the Doctor Who Experience Walking Tour. Popular Communication 14(2), pp. 86-98. (10.1080/15405702.2016.1153101)
- Garner, R. 2015. Brand reconciliation? A case study of ITV's 2013 rebrand. Critical Studies in Television: An International Journal of Television Studies 10(1), pp. 3-23. (10.7227/CST.10.1.2)
Gosodiad
- Garner, R. 2013. Nostalgia and post-2005 British time travel dramas: A semiotic analysis of a television genre cycle. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Research
My research is located within the field of Cultural Studies and primarily explores intersections between the Experience Economy, media franchises, and media fans and audiences. This can involve anaylzing any combination of industiral strategising, constructions of, and targeting of fan audiences, the form and content of experiences produced by these franchises, audience reactions and readings of attractions and experiences, and how these intersect with ideas concerning transmediality.
My current areas of research cover:
- Media tourism.
- Transmediality and transmedia tourism.
- Intersections between spatial media and the Experience Economy.
- Location-based experiences.
- Augmented reality.
- Cult media franchises.
- Media representations of the Mesozoic period.
- The Pokemon franchise.
- The Jurassic Park/World franchise.
- Fan collectors and cult media merchandising strategies.
Teaching
Modules:
Ross is Module Leader on the following undergraduate courses:
- Year Three - Marketing, Promotion and Branding in Television Cultures
- Year Three - Screening Locations
Supervision:
Ross supervises dissertation research across BA, MA and PhD levels. Typical topics of interest include (but are not necessarily limited to):
- Media fans and fandom.
- Audience consumption and reception contexts.
- Transmediality and transmedia storytelling.
- Media tourism.
- Television industries and institutions.
- Industrially-focused approaches to cult media and fandom.
Supervisions
I would welcome applications from prospective students who wish to study topics related to the following areas:
- Media tourism.
- Transmediality and transmedia tourism.
- Intersections between spatial media and the Experience Economy.
- Location-based experiences.
- Augmented reality.
- Cult media franchises.
- Media representations of the Mesozoic period.
- The Pokemon franchise.
- The Jurassic Park/World franchise.
- Fan collectors and cult media merchandising strategies.
Current supervision
Past projects
Previous PhD student topics have included:
- Constructions of 'dread spaces' within film (a joint supervision with colleagues from the School of Architecture)
Contact Details
GarnerRP1@cardiff.ac.uk
+44 29208 75475
Two Central Square, Floor Two, Room 2.55, Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1FS
+44 29208 75475
Two Central Square, Floor Two, Room 2.55, Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1FS
Research themes
Specialisms
- Media tourism
- Media experiences
- Cult media franchises
