Thomas G. Endres ’82 will present his book “My Costume, Myself: Celebrating Stories of Cosplay and Beyond” on Tuesday, May 30 from 5-7 p.m. in the Atwood Alumni Room. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.
Endres is an SCSU alumnus and current professor at the University of Northern Colorado, where he teaches courses on unpacking popular culture. He previously served as Northern Colorado’s Director/Chair of the School of Communication for 17 years.
Endres had recently started going to comic cons with his adult daughters, and he was impressed with what an inclusive community it appeared to be. He proposed a small project to look at cosplayers at FAN EXPO Denver, but the project quickly evolved from there into a two-year project.
“Everybody deserves for their story to be told; I want to give voice to as many people as possible,” Endres said about the motivation for his writing. “People don’t use costumes as a way to be someone they are not, they more often use costumes to explore aspects of who they are.”
“For many a costume was help for them on a journey of self-exploration. They get to test drive facets of personality that usually don’t get to see the light of day.”
A description of the book reads, “Cosplay. Celebrity impersonation. Historical reenactment. Drag. Ren Fairs. Through research and stories, come discover the transformational world of costumes, and how they can be used to uncover, cultivate, and represent aspects of one’s inner self.”
Endres has always been interested in studying rhetorical communities bonded not by geography, but instead by a common set of storylines. His first book “Sturgis Stories: Celebrating the People of the World’s Largest Motorcycle Rally”, was published in 2002 and chronicled a series of stories and photos of the event’s attendees.
After graduating from SCSU with a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication and Secondary Education, Endres later earned a master’s degree at the University of Illinois and a PhD from the University of Minnesota. He taught Communication courses at St. Olaf and St. Thomas before moving to Colorado.
Learn more about the event and Endres’ book, including testimonials from other authors.
