Like many odd academic endeavors, it began with a bored person at a desk. Inspired by football stickers and Pokémon decks, David Gauntlett, a media studies professor at the time who also runs theory.org.uk, started making little illustrated cards of cultural theorists. The format itself was a joke. At first, it seemed like a lighthearted joke on the gravity of theory to put Foucault on a card next to a power rating. Lecturers ordering sets in bulk was not anticipated by anyone.
However, that’s exactly what transpired—gradually, then suddenly. The deck had subtly left the realm of humor by the time AltaMira Press acquired a 21-card edition in late 2013. Earlier that year, Critical-Theory.com had already written about them, highlighting the peculiar fondness that scholars had developed for the items. Reading through old blog entries from that era gives the impression that no one was sure whether or not to take them seriously. They were amusing. Somehow, they were also at work.
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Project Name | Theory Trading Cards |
| Origin | David Gauntlett’s theory.org.uk |
| Originating Institution | Bournemouth University |
| First Major Print Run | AltaMira Press, 21-card set (2013) |
| Field of Use | Media studies, sociology, cultural theory |
| Featured Thinkers | Foucault, Durkheim, Bourdieu, Butler, Goffman |
| Format | Index-card sized, illustrated, biographical |
| Primary Audience | First-year undergraduates |
| Notable Coverage | Critical-Theory.com, Jerz’s Literacy Weblog |
| Current Status | Used as supplementary classroom material in multiple universities |
Bournemouth University, where first-year media students frequently arrive intimidated by the reading list, is where the idea originated. The look is familiar to anyone who has instructed an introductory theory module. When you discipline and punish someone, you can see the color disappear from their face. A way around that wall was provided by the cards. A brief biography, the main ideas, a brief portrait, and a few statistics for amusement. It gave the impression that the thinker was a real person.
These days, if you walk into a seminar room at some universities, you’ll see them on desks, dog-eared and occasionally laminated by especially committed students. According to a friend who works as a teacher in Manchester, her students trade copies in a similar manner to how children used to trade Panini stickers, but the discussions ultimately turn to symbolic violence. It’s difficult to ignore how peculiar that is. The degree’s difficult component was meant to be theory, not social studies.
The cards are subtly a part of a longer history as well. Since Magic: the Gathering in 1993, trading card games have created entire communities around the straightforward act of exchanging rectangles of cardstock. Scholars observed this years ago. It was covered in ethnographies. The Theory Trading Cards may have stuck because they take that fandom grammar and use it in unexpected ways. Pupils already understand how this item functions. Half the teaching is done by the format.
It is more difficult to determine if they truly enhance learning outcomes. Unlike trading cards, flashcards have been the subject of decades of research. However, the cards appear to accomplish something that flashcards were never able to. They provide a certain vitality to theory. Durkheim takes on a persona. Bourdieu sports a hairdo. When you think about it, it’s not all that different from how anyone learns anything outside of an exam room. You begin to recall which thinker said what because you remember the face on the card.
It’s still unclear if the project will outlive its creators or if, after the initial zeal wears off, it will quietly fade. However, for the time being, the cards continue to appear in tote bags, syllabi, and the corners of lecturers’ desks. A joke that endured long enough to cease to exist.
