Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies

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Since the opening of Disneyland (Anaheim, CA) in 1955 the theme park has become an industry, a cultural institution, and a medium of global economic relevance and of broad social impact. Research on theme parks has recognized their multi-level significance for some time already and has examined virtually all aspects of theme parks, their antecedents, and similar spaces from a large variety of disciplinary perspectives. At the same time, however, theme park scholars have rarely looked beyond the borders of their own disciplines and genuinely transdisciplinary discussions have not yet been established, let alone an independent field of research with its own theories and methods, scholarly associations, and publication organs. Moreover, specific aspects of theme parks, such as their temporality, have only just begun to be analyzed by scholars, while others, such as the depiction of theme parks in other media and in the arts, have not yet been discussed at all. The goal of this project is therefore to foster collaboration on theme parks across disciplinary borders; this collaboration will result in the publication of a transdisciplinary introduction to „Key Concepts in Theme Park Studies“, geared at an international scholarly audience.