Transmedia Science!

While preparing for the midterm I came across a section in Convergence Culture chapter 5 about public schools or libraries that have scheduled events or classes in which they had speakers come and play rolls as if they were giving a lecture on some topic of the muggle or wizard world. I cannot believe I missed this connection the first time I read it, however, this time I was quickly reminded of some volunteer work I had done in my high school years. The summer before my senior year I volunteered at a place called Sciport in my hometown Shreveport. Sciport is a science discovery interactive meusem for children. Three storys, huge interactive stages and demostration rooms, large floor areas with hundreds of engaging science - oriented activities that school age children can learn from and also have fun! During the summer they would do day camps, each having a different theme but all closely related to science. I was assigned the Harry Potter camp. We were to wear robes; we got sorted on the first day; we brewed up some very interesting 'potions' which were mainly just very basic science demonstrations that are typically performed in labs with a little extra imaginiative boost; we constructed our own wands; we even played quiddich! I didn't give it much credience at the time because I was not a very big Harry Potter fan (in fact I am still not very fond of the Harry Potter stories in general - sorry), but now looking back through the eyes of Jenkins I can see a perfect example of transmedia, and in this case ever trans-academic storytelling as Harry Potter steps out of the world of literture and into the world of imaginiative science learning!