Census Citations

The links below are a selection of references to BRC Census data in academic publications and presentations, as well as in the popular media.

If you know of an article or book that should be included on this page, use this form to submit a new addition. If your suggestion meets our criteria, it will be included on this page within 2-4 weeks.

In addition to the publications referenced here, BRC Census reports can be found in the Census Results Archive and discussion of selected reports can be found in our portal in the Burning Man Journal.

Burning Man Journal Highlights

BRC Census regularly publishes posts in our portal in the Burning Man Journal. The links below are to a few publications which may be especially interesting to anyone curious about the specific methodology and processes followed by BRC Census.

Why Should You Fill Out Your BRC Census? Because It Matters by Laura “Dr. Daneosaur” Dane, Dana “DV8” DeVaul, Sarah “Picky” Williamson, published October 11, 2016.

Art From Data: The Field Notes Project by Leah Gold (“Athena”) published June 13, 2016.

Burners, Meet Black Rock City Census by Rebecca Mason (B^2), edited by Dominic Beaulieu-Prévost (Hunter), Dana Lilienthal DeVaul (DV8), and Rachel McKay, published February 24, 2016.

In the Media

San Francisco’s Burning Man exodus proves mostly a myth by Jessica Floum and Sarah Fritsche. San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2016.

Does Burning Man work? by Conner Smith. The Daily Californian, September 26, 2016.

Is Burning Man becoming less overwhelmingly white? by Steven W Thrasher. The Guardian, September 13, 2016.

In Dust We Trust: A Report from the Shrines and Party Showers of Burning Man 2016 by Yoonj Kim. Playboy, September 12, 2016.

Ignore the haters—I’m a person of color and I love Burning Man by Yodassa Williams. Fusion, September 7 2016

What is Burning Man? Whatever you want it to be by Trevor Hughes. USA Today, August 31, 2016.

Overworked America’s obsession with Burning Man is a cry for help by Olivia Goldhill. Quartz, August 28, 2016.

Burning Man census: Burners spend a lot in Reno by Jenny Kane. Reno Gazette-Journal, February 29, 2016.

Burning Man’s black campers explain why they are the 1% by Steven W Thrasher. The Guardian, September 27, 2015.

Report: Burning Man population slightly richer than before by Jenny Kane. Reno Gazette-Journal, April 8, 2015.

Gifts in the desert: the psychology of Burning Man by Molly Crocket. The Guardian, September 26, 2014.

The Wonderful, Weird Economy of Burning Man by Elizabeth Limbach. The Atlantic, August 18, 2014.

How Burning Man Changed A 50-Year-Old Texas Institution by
Mallika Rao. The Huffington Post, October 1, 2013.

Academic Publications

Most links in this section lead to an article abstract or book description, rather than to the full text of the book or article referenced. The articles listed in this section are often not available for free to members of the public. Access may require a paid journal membership, usually obtained through affiliation with a university.

Heller, S. M. (2016). Memories of Burning Man. In Boulanger, C.L. (Ed.), Reflecting on America: Anthropological Views of U.S. Culture, 2nd edition. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis / Routledge.

McRae, K., Heller, S.M., John, O.P., & Gross, J.J. (2011). Context-dependent emotion regulation: Suppression and reappraisal at the Burning Man festival. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 33, 346-50.

Snyder, S. A., Heller, S.M., Lumian, D.S., & McRae, K. (2013). Regulation of positive and negative emotion: Effects of sociocultural context. Frontiers in Psychology 4, 259.

Academic Presentations

The presentations listed in this section may not have accompanying recordings or materials. If a recording was made and/or materials were provided at the time of presentation, links will be provided if possible.

Prosser, A. (2017, April). “Burning Man changed my life”: An exploration of transformative experiences following ‘transformational festival’ attendance. Presentation, British Undergraduate Research Conference, Bournemouth University, UK.

Prosser, A. (2017, March). Exploring the content of reported transformative experiences at a ‘Transformative Festival’. Presentation, British Psychological Society South West Undergraduate Conference, University of Bristol. (Winner of Best Oral Presentation Award)