SASSAk12 Building Partnerships: Phoenix Fan Fusion 2025
Dr. Ivy returns to Phoenix Fan Fusion to add SASSAK12 to the STEAM — Check out how the SASSAk12 community continues to grow in record-breaking heat
On June 6 - 8, 2025, SASSAk12 board member Ivy Faulkner returned to Phoenix, Arizona, to participate in the 2025 Phoenix Fan Fusion event. This annual pop culture event celebrates all things related to comic books, science fiction, horror, anime, gaming, and more. Ivy has been involved with this event for nearly 15 years in various roles, but for the last several years she has attended as a panelist participating in the convention’s increasing STEAM-centered educational programming. Last year, Ivy presented on the topic of repatriation (link to previous blog post). This year, Ivy spent the first morning of the event volunteering in the Discovery Science Lab, engaging with attendees at the specimens table. By the end of the day, around 5,000 people stopped to learn more!
On the second day, she was a presenter on three STEAM panels: What about Second Breakfast? The Science of Food and Community, Sci-Fi Book Club, and Pyramid Scheme: A Look at Archaeological Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries. The first panel, What about Second Breakfast? The Science of Food and Community, discussed how food can unite people across cultures. For this panel, Ivy was joined by Dr. Charlotte Till (ASU Research Scientist, Professor at Phoenix College and Chandler-Gilbert Community College), Ernesto L. Abeytia (Project Manager, Responsible and Sustainable Innovation, Global Futures Office of Research Development and Strategy and Faculty Associate, CISA - School of Applied Sciences and Arts, Arizona State University), and Rebecca Harkness (PhD candidate, University of Arizona).
For her portion of the discussion, Ivy presented on how archaeologists can learn about instances of culture contact through the examination of foodways in the past. She highlighted how looking at whether or not culinary practices change when different cultures meet can provide insight into questions related to the choices people made in food preparation and consumption and what intentional choices were expressed by these choices. She further presented some examples of how the archaeology of foodways in periods of culture contact can provide us with a window into the past of otherwise underrepresented peoples in past societies, such as women, people of lower socioeconomic status, the marginalized, and the enslaved.
Next, in the Sci-Fi Book Club panel, Ivy was joined by software developer Michael Savarese and a cognitive science professor from Arizona State University to share and discuss how scientists feel about science fiction. Ivy and her fellow panelists gave a brief history of the development of the genre and engaged with the audience about their favorite examples from across the decades, and even centuries!
Finally, on her last panel, Pyramid Scheme: A Look at Archaeological Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries, Ivy was rejoined by Rebecca Harkness along with Dr. Jessica Rothwell (Postdoctoral Research Scholar, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University) to discuss pseudo-archaeology, or the various ways that real or fabricated archaeological material has been used to misinterpret or misrepresent the past.
The panelists laid out how archaeologists utilize the scientific method while pseudo-archaeology exploits people’s interests in the past to push various agendas. Then, the panel visited a selection of famous archaeological hoaxes, discussing the ways these forgers used pseudo-archaeology and how they were ultimately exposed. Finally, the panel shifted into more recent examples such as the continued and repeated discovery of “Atlantis,” the Ancient Aliens fad, and sensationalized science in the media around “vampire burials.”
This panel in particular was received by a packed audience of over 100 people who actively engaged with the presenters on the topic and asked several thoughtful questions. At the end of the discussion, Ivy experienced two very meaningful interactions. One was with a local K-12 biology teacher who had also attended Ivy’s first panel. She shared that friends had tried to get her to attend Phoenix Fan Fusion for 10 years. She had finally agreed this year and she was so glad that she did because of the amazing STEAM panels that she attended! The other was with an older gentleman who said that he was part of a local tribal community and wanted to thank the presenters for respecting his people.
On the final day of Phoenix Fan Fusion, Ivy got to bring her 8-year-old nephew to the event. He was particularly engaged with the activities both in the Science Discovery Lab and in the other youth-targeted programming areas. He also was thrilled to meet a local author who gave him some advice to help him in developing his reading skills. In fact, one of the first things that he shared with his parents at the end of the day when Ivy took him home was that he wanted to get some comic books to help him with his reading!
All in all, the Phoenix Fan Fusion event was an amazing combination of fun and learning that was attended by over 130,000 people. While Ivy was the only SASSAk12 board member who was able to attend this year, we are developing plans to have an even bigger presence in the future! How are we doing that? Ivy has been forging new connections in the southwest by communicating with local K-12 educators and early career researchers in Arizona who are interested in seeing applying SASSAk12’s vision to their own learning communities. By building these bridges, SASSAk12 will be able to showcase their innovative, community-based learning framework at the next Phoenix Fan Fusion with new Arizona-based partners!
SASSAk12 is excited to expand our outreach to new communities, but we can’t do it alone. This is made possible by the support of people like you. Please donate by clicking the link below.
