Tulane University Libraries is excited to announce the launch of Zine Your Research, a new podcast series that explores the intersection of zine culture and academia.

Zines—radical, DIY, self-published works—have long been associated with anti-establishment movements. But what role can they play in scholarly research? How can universities engage with zines without erasing their cultural meaning? What problems might zines help solve?

Throughout this series, listeners will explore the history, materiality, and ethos of zines, while also hearing from librarians, archivists, faculty, and students who are using zines to document marginalized voices, engage communities, and rethink how scholarship is shared.

The series asks big questions about balancing the traditional rigor of academia with the creativity and accessibility of zines—and reveals surprising connections across Tulane’s archival and library collections.

Project Principals

• Katherine Hicks, designer, researcher, host

• lisa Hooper, producer, audio engineer

Audience

The podcast is designed for researchers and creatives both within and beyond academia. Whether you are simply curious about zines or deeply engaged in making and collecting them, Zine Your Research offers fresh perspectives on scholarship, culture, and community.

Episodes will be hosted on Spotify (via Tulane’s existing Howie-T account).

Episode Outline and Descriptions

Episode 1: What is a Zine?

Featuring Agnes Czeblakow, Curator of Rare Books and Head of Research Services, Tulane University Special Collections. In this episode, Czeblakow traces the development of zines from late 19th- and early 20th-century amateur press associations through the fan magazines of the mid-20th century and the activist publications of the 1960s onward, setting the stage for how we understand zines today.

Episode 2: Zines as Queer and Feminist Pedagogy

Featuring Bernadette Floresca, Head of Archives Management and Strategies, Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Collection, Newcomb Institute, and Ellie Goecken, Archivist for Public Engagement and Research Services, Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Collection, Newcomb Institute. This episode dives into the queer and feminist history of zines, from 1960s Kirk/Spock fanfiction to the Riotgrrl movement of the 1990s, and discusses how zines function as primary sources that document these histories.

Episode 3: Bibliodiversity in Latin America

Featuring Teresa Clifton, Special Collections & Engagement Librarian, The Dorris Z. Stone Latin American Library & Research Center, Tulane University. Clifton examines the history of publishing in colonial Latin America, showing how restrictions on publishing helped foster a thriving DIY culture of pamphlets and cartoñeras that parallels the European zine tradition.

Episode 4: A Zine-Critical Stance

Featuring Erin Kinchen-Addicks, Collection Management, University Archives, Tulane University Special Collections. This episode considers how the “zininess” of zines shifts when they are absorbed into academic institutions and collections, raising important questions about cultural context and institutional influence.

Episode 5: Scientific Communication

Featuring Alanna J. Frick, Ph.D. candidate, School of Science and Engineering, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, and Kim Wheeler, Scholarly Engagement Librarian, Science & Engineering, Tulane University Libraries (at time of recording); currently Research & Learning Librarian – STEM, Dartmouth College. Frick and Wheeler share how they use zines to make scientific research more accessible, engaging, and community-focused, while also challenging students to think critically about audience and impact.

Episode 6: Public Health

Featuring Omar A. Dauhajre, Administrative Director, Partners for Advancing Health Equity, Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health, and Carlisle Isley, Research Support Librarian, Rudolph Matas Library of the Health Sciences. This conversation explores the importance of community-centered communication in public health and highlights how zines can help build connections and share vital information.

Behind the Series

While the project set out to spotlight a range of perspectives from librarians, archivists, faculty, and students, it uncovered something more: the interconnectedness of Tulane’s archival and library collections. Despite differing areas of focus, these collections share stories about the history of printing and zine-making, about individual expression, and about community engagement.

This unexpected revelation highlights the power of zines not just as objects of study, but as catalysts for rethinking how and where cultural research can happen.