Northeast Popular
Culture Association 2019 Annual Conference
15-16 November 2019
Sheraton Portsmouth
Harborside Hotel, Portsmouth, NH
NEPCA Monsters and
the Monstrous Area 2019
Michael A.
Torregrossa, Area Chair
Session 5: Saturday 9:30-10:45am
Monsters and the
Monstrous I: Reimagining Monsters (Thaxter, Lobby Level)
Chair: Don
Vescio, Worcester State University
“The Monstrosity
of Heroism in Beowulf”
Richard Fahey, University of Notre Dame
Richard Fahey is a PhD candidate at the University of
Notre Dame, who is scheduled to graduate this January. In addition to his
studies, Richard serves as Assistant Project Manager for Notre Dame’s Medieval
Studies Research Blog and Assistant Book Review Editor for the Journal
of Religion & Literature. His research areas include
allegory, monstrosity, wonders and riddles, especially in Old English, Latin,
Old Norse-Icelandic and Middle English literature. Richard is also interested
medievalism, including the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and George R. R. Martin,
and modern adaptations of medieval literature.
“Vegetarianism
and Synthetic Blood: Green Neoliberal Vampires”
Jessica Hautsch, Stony Brook University
Jessica Hautsch is a PhD student at Stony Brook University.
She has published and presented numerous papers about the Whedonverse focusing
on representations of race and gender in Buffy
the Vampire Slayer. Her current research combines rhetorical and cognitive
theory in an analysis of reading and writing practices in digital fan
communities.
“In the Footsteps of Fox Mulder: When Will We Know?”
Don Vescio, Worcester State University
Don Vescio is a faculty member of Worcester State
University’s Department of English.
After serving ten years as Worcester State’s Chief Information
Office/Vice President of Information Technologies, and two years as Vice
President of Enrollment Management and Marketing, Don now focuses his energies
on teaching undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of
disciplines. His research interests are
in critical theory, narratological analysis, and information design.
Session 6: Saturday 11:00am- 12:15pm
Monsters and the
Monstrous II: Everyday Monsters (Thaxter, Lobby Level)
Chair: Richard Fahey, University of Notre Dame
“Blood-Drinkers of the Nineteenth Century”
Rachel Widmer, University of Arkansas
Rachel Widmer is a Masters student at the University of
Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She is currently working on her Master’s
Thesis which focuses on an unusual blood cure for consumption in nineteenth
century America, and its cultural implications as related to the vampire from
the Romantic Period into modern day. She works as a Registrar at a small
museum, and lives with her boyfriend, Joel and her adorable cat, Lucifer.
“The Girl in The Seven Year Itch is a Monster”
Abigail Driver, University of West Georgia
Abigail Driver is currently completing her M.A. in
English at The University of West Georgia. Her special areas of research are
women's literature, monstrosity, and pedagogy. In addition, Abigail is an
English teacher in Carrollton, Georgia. She teaches 9th grade English and AP
Literature and Composition. Her passion is helping students discover new
perspectives on literature.
“The Familiar
Other in Derf Backderf’s My Friend Dahmer”
Patrick Woodstock, Concordia University
Patrick Woodstock is currently completing his MA in Film
Studies at Concordia University in Montréal. His research is primarily
concerned with the application of queer and feminist perspectives towards
contemporary and historical popular visual cultures, with a specific focus on
classical Hollywood, camp, horror media and the histories of decadent
aesthetics.
Session 8: Saturday, 3:00pm- 4:15pm
Monsters and the
Monstrous III: Monsters and their Afterlives (Thaxter, Lobby Level)
Chair: Ava
Brillat, University of Miami
“Individuation and the Beast Within: A Jungian
Interpretation of Andre Norton’s The Year
of the Unicorn” (102)
Kathleen Healey, Worcester State University
Dr. Kathleen
Healey is an adjunct instructor at Worcester State University. She is the co-editor with Sharon Healey Yang
of Gothic Landscapes: Changing Eras,
Changing Cultures, Changing Anxieties.
Her publications include essays on gothic literature and the
relationship between literature and the visual arts.
“King Arthur vs. Cthulhu: The Motif of Arthur Redivivus in Lovecraft-inspired
Arthuriana”
Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar
Michael A. Torregrossa is Monsters and the Monstrous
Area Chair. He is a graduate if the Medieval Studies program at the University
of Connecticut (Storrs), and his research focuses on aspects of the medieval in
popular culture, including fiction, film and television, and comics.
“The Kids Aren’t Alright: Monstrous Children and
Parental Fears”
Ava Brillat, University of Miami, and April Mann, University
of Miami
Ava Brillat is the Learning & Research Services
Librarian for English, Theatre Arts, and Classical Studies at the University of
Miami. She has presented on the family
as the source of fear and the abject in horror movies at the Pop Culture
Association/ American Culture Association Annual Meeting in 2019. Her genre research is focused on familial
relationships in horror movies.
April Mann is a senior lecturer in the University of
Miami’s Composition Program, teaching courses in first year writing for
Engineering students and advanced writing for STEM fields. She has directed the Writing Center since
2004 and provided grant- and article-writing support to the University of Miami
Miller School of Medicine since 2015.
April has recently co-authored an article entitled “Crossing the Bridge:
Writing and Research Bridge Programming for an Intensive English Program” in
the edited collection Teaching,
Information Literacy, and Writing Studies. V.2, Upper Level and Graduate
Courses.
