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How is MJAS different from a fan-site or fanzine?

We deliver primarily academic research-based content and we also provide resources for academics and teachers. We archive online content so that we can deliver researchers a referencing service. We are impartial and are not affiliated with any institution. Therefore we remain objective and balanced in our content. We provide content of a diversity which gives us perspectives of all kinds and makes very clear that we can study Michael Jackson from a wide variety of subject specialisms, from Popular Culture and Literature to African-American Heritage.

What Services Do You Provide?

We provide a very diverse range of content, including a monthly academic podcast, essays, opinion pieces, editorials, journal issues and volumes, resources, detailed academic book reviews, exclusive authorial interviews, a monthly column which updates readers on the world of Michael Jackson Studies, which is the only one of its kind. We also provide much-needed academic publications on Michael Jackson’s artistry.

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation

is a monthly academic podcast that focuses on the life, art and creative work of Michael Jackson.

Presented by academics Karin Merx and Elizabeth Amisu, editors of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies, it is the world’s first academic podcast that solely discusses the art of Michael Jackson, as well as the broader contexts in which his music, performances, and short films were created and received.

Each podcast is filled to the brim with academic insights, a plethora of references from a range of academic disciplines, humour and a great deal of discussion, taking Michael Jackson’s work and the study of its reception to new heights.

Recently, featured on the iTunes ‘New and Noteworthy’ lists, Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation is the world’s foremost podcast on Michael Jackson in academic studies. It is available via iTunes, Android, Email, RSS, and Stitcher

The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies asks that you acknowledge The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies as the source of our Content; if you use material from The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies online, we request that you link directly to the stable URL provided. If you use our content offline, we ask that you credit the source as follows: “Courtesy of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies.” All content is copyright-protected. Any unauthorised reproduction, redistribution, or use for artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automated data collection is strictly prohibited.

Latest Episode

Episode 89- How to Write an Academic Book Review
https://michaeljacksonstudies.org/episode-89-how-to-write-an-academic-book-review/

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation SEASON 1 (2015-2016)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation SEASON 2 (2016)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation SEASON 3 (2016-2017)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation SEASON 4 (2017)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation SEASON 5 (2017)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation SEASON 6 (2018/20)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 7 (2021)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 8 (2021/2022)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 9 (2022)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 10 (2022/2023)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 11 (2023-2025)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 12 (2025)

Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation Season 13 (2025)

7 Reasons to Love This Podcast.

We are impartial and are not affiliated with any institution.
We are made by fans and academics, for fans and academics.
We publish enriching podcasts, columns and interviews for free.
MJ Studies is a wonderful way to learn about all of culture, music and art.
We offer our supporters and members exclusive content, gifts, collectors’ items and discounts.
We are the only academic hub for MJ Studies in the world.
We are already supported by many wonderful academics and fans.

What Happy Listeners are Saying About The Dream Lives On

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Meet the Presenters

The public profiles of the editors and co-founders of the journal can be read below:

Karin Merx, BMus, MA is the cover artist and illustrator of the first comprehensive academic book on Michael Jackson,  ‘The Dangerous Philosophies of Michael Jackson: His Music, His Persona, and His Artistic Afterlife‘. Merx is the founder and editor of the world’s first peer-reviewed academic journal on Michael Jackson’s art, life and work, The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies and she is co-presenter of the acclaimed podcast, ‘Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation’, mentioned in iTunes as ‘New and Noteworthy’. Merx is an artist and academic. She studied at the Academy of Music in Amsterdam, and is an alumna of Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Open University, Netherlands and holds qualifications in Art History. For The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies, she wrote the well-received article: ‘From Throne to Wilderness. Michael Jackson’s ‘Stranger in Moscow’ and the Foucauldian Outlaw‘ and a book review on ‘Dangerous‘ by Susan Fast. This review is also translated into German and Italian. Find out more at karinmerx.co.uk/.

Elizabeth Amisu, author of The Dangerous Philosophies of Michael Jackson: His Music, His Persona, and His Artistic Afterlife, holds an MA in Early Modern English Literature from King’s College London. She is co-founder and editor of The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies online. For The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies, she has edited two publications, An Academic Companion to Michael Jackson Studies and Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation – Michael Jackson & Prince; written several articles and book reviews, most notably ”Throwing Stones To Hide Your Hands’: The Mortal Persona Of Michael Jackson‘, which has been translated into Spanish and Italian; ”The Isle is Full of Noises’: Revisiting the Peter Pan of Pop‘, available in German; ”Crack Music’: Michael Jackson’s Invincible‘, also in Italian; and ”Heard it Through the Grapevine’: Are We Losing Michael Jackson All Over Again?‘, also available in Spanish.

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All content on this site/journal is protected intellectual property.
Use of text, images, or multimedia to train artificial intelligence, scrape, or extract data without explicit permission is strictly prohibited.
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Mission Statement

Michael Jackson Academic Studies (MJAS) is dedicated to the rigorous, interdisciplinary study of Michael Jackson’s work as a unified aesthetic system. Grounded in art history, visual culture, musicology, dance studies, early modern studies and film theory, MJAS approaches Jackson not as a biographical problem to be defended or debunked, but as a major late-20th-century artist whose work reshaped the relationship between sound, image, body, and mass media.

The journal foregrounds form, lineage, and reception history, situating Jackson within global artistic traditions, from classical European aesthetics and Black diasporic performance to postmodern visual culture. By refusing reductive moral binaries and sensationalist framings, MJAS provides a scholarly space in which Jackson’s art can be interpreted with the seriousness routinely afforded to canonical figures.

Our aim is not rehabilitation, but understanding: to examine how Jackson’s work functions, why it mattered, and what it reveals about race, embodiment, modernity, and the aesthetics of popular culture.

What is The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies?

An academic, scholarly journal, which is peer-reviewed, in which academic writing and scholarship relating to Michael Jackson can be accessed. Academic journals are one of the most wonderful ways to share academic criticism and research with interested parties. This research is presented as books, courses, events, essays, teaching resources, columns, articles, book reviews, academic podcasts and original research. In addition, we publish author interviews.

Why Michael Jackson?

It is a little-known fact that academic, well-researched “books on Elvis Presley alone outnumber titles on Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, andMichael Jackson combined”. (Vogel, Man in the Music). Whereas an artist like Michael Jackson is incredibly visible through the media and tabloid coverage, research on his art remains comparatively small. If this continues Michael Jackson’s contributions could be written out of history in just a few decades. Therefore, this journal nurtures, fosters, protects, preserves and grows the vital research and recognition of his work.

Who are the Editors?

The Journal of Michael Jackson Academic Studies has three editors: Kerry Hennigan, Elizabeth Amisu and Karin Merx.

Where does your content come from?

Our content comes from academics and researchers around the world who wish to professionally publish their work. A list of all of our contributors can be found here.

Why do you have a Podcast

Podcasts are a fantastic way of getting academic ideas around Michael Jackson into the public sphere in a way that is easily accessible to listeners. Presented by the journal’s editors, it is the world’s first academic podcast which solely discusses the art of Michael Jackson as well as the broader contexts in which his music, performance and short films were created and received. Each podcast is filled to the brim with academic insights, a plethora of references from a range of academic disciplines, humor and a great deal of discussion, taking Michael Jackson’s work and the study of its reception to new heights.
MichaelJackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation is our official, original monthly/fortnightly academic podcast which focuses on the life, art and creative work of Michael Jackson. Recently, featured on the iTunes ‘New and Noteworthy’ lists, Michael Jackson’s Dream Lives On: An Academic Conversation is the world’s foremost podcast on Michael Jackson in academic studies. It is available via iTunes, Android, Email, RSS, and Stitcher. Listen here.