NEPCA Monsters Area 2021
Northeast
Popular Culture Association Annual Conference October 21-23, 2021
Current Draft -
Updated 10/13/2021
(registration information and full schedule at https://nepca.blog/conference/)
THURSDAY, 10/21
SESSION #1 (3:30-4:15 PM):
Monsters and the Monstrous 1
Monsters on
Screen (Session Chair: Angela Whyland)
The Hillbilly
Image in Television and Film - Whitney Snow, Midwestern State University
Whitney
Snow, Associate Professor, specializes in the Twentieth-Century South. Her main
interests are agricultural, environmental, and labor history although she does
have a penchant for pop culture. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree and
Master of Arts degree from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, she
received her doctorate from Mississippi State University. Her work has appeared
in peer-reviewed journals ranging from The Alabama Review and The Southwestern
Historical Quarterly to Textile: The Journal of Cloth and Culture and Forests,
Trees and Livelihoods. She is the author of the book Cathedral Caverns
(Arcadia, 2017) and co-author of both Lake Guntersville (Arcadia, 2018) and
Guntersville (Arcadia, 2021). She edited The Civil War Diaries of Cassie
Fennell: A Young Confederate Woman in North Alabama, 1859-1865 (University of
Tennessee Press, 2020) and Alabama Bill and the Bowery (Subury, 2020). She is
currently editing the World War II diaries of sailor Carlos McGowin.
Viewing the A
Nightmare on Elm Street Films as Action Movies - Shane Hesketh, Bowling Green
State University
Shane
Hesketh graduated with his Bachelor's in Humanities with a concentration in
Film Studies from Florida State University and is now pursuing his Master's in
Popular Culture from Bowling Green State University. His research interests
include the slasher subgenre, the James Bond series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
and comparative studies within major film franchises. His future plans include
pursuing his PhD in a Film Studies related field and teaching as a career.
“Get Away, You
Idiots!” Imperial Terror in The Thing - Bridget Keown, University of Pittsburgh
Dr.
Keown is a lecturer in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women Studies Program at the
University of Pittsburgh, where she is also a member of the interdisciplinary
Horror Studies Working Group. Her research focuses on the experience and
portrayal of gendered trauma in the 20th century.
SESSION #2 (4:30-5:45 PM):
Monsters and the Monstrous 2
Intersectionality
in Horror (Panel Presentation) (Session Chair: Angela Whyland)
Disabled
Slasher Villains - Kathryn Heale, Clark University
Kathryn
Healey is a sophomore at Clark University planning to double major in
Psychology and Philosophy. She takes great interest in the unusual and the
macabre, and frequently consumes horror media. She is a strong believer in
thinking critically about the media we consume and uplifting formerly silenced
voices in art.
Lesbians as
Villains in Horror - Shay Sotelo, Clark University
Shay
Sotelo is an undergraduate student in Psychology and Women and Gender studies
at Clark University who is passionate about gender, sex, and sexuality issues
and how these affect mental health on an individual and societal scale. She is
also enthusiastic about watching horror and thriller films and analyzing
meaning through the lenses of psychology, queer studies, and gender studies.
Transgender and
Gender Nonconforming Representation in Horror - Mia Swartz, Clark University
Mia
Swartz is a senior at Clark University double majoring in French & Francophone
Studies and Art History. She is a Co-Director and President of Choices, Clark’s
on-campus peer sexual health resource that strives to provide the campus
community with sexual health information, safer sex supplies, and education
regarding informed choices about sex and healthy relationships. Aside from
sexual health, she is passionate about art, education, and appreciating the
horror genre through a critical lens.
Sexploitation
and Trashy Horror - Haley Reash-Henz, Clark University
Haley
Reash-Henz (they/them/theirs) is an undergraduate student at Clark University
majoring in Women's and Gender Studies. They have focused their studies on
reproductive healthcare, sexual liberation and politics, and queer theory. As
an avid lover of all things scary, campy, and sexy, Haley delves into their
favorite sources of popular culture by applying queer, feminist, anti-racist
theories to examine how we shape and are shaped by the popular culture we love
and hate so much.
SESSION #3 (6:30-7:15 PM):
Monsters and the Monstrous 3
Mutants &
Miscreants (Panel Presentation) (Session Chair: Michael Torregrossa)
The Color of
Evil: Decoding Disney Through the Monstering and Racialization of Villains -
Natalya Loughrin, Clark University
Natalya
Loughrin is Swiss/American and moved to Massachusetts to attend Clark
University. She is currently a Sophomore majoring in Sociology, minoring in
History with plans to go into the criminological field.
It's Alive!:
How War-time Horror Expressed & Exploits Inequality - Mallory Trainor,
Clark University
Mallory
Trainor is a junior at Clark University. She is currently majoring in
International Development and Social Change. This will be her second year
presenting at NEPCA.
Loosening the
Flesh: Aging & Dementia in Horror - Jacqueline Morrill, Clark University
Jacqueline
Morrill is a writing professor at Clark University and Worcester State
University. She holds an MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College; her course
load focuses specifically on the horror genre of film and literature.
SESSION #4 (7:30-8:45 PM):
Monsters and the Monstrous 4
Lovecraft and
His Monsters (Session Chair: Lance Eaton)
H.P. Lovecraft
and Linguistic Aesthetics - Perry Harrison, Fort Hays State University
Perry
Neil Harrison is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Graduate Studies in
the English Department at Fort Hays State University, where he teaches classes
in linguistics, the history of the English language, and medieval literature.
He received a PhD from Baylor University in 2018, and his medieval scholarship
appears in venues such as Modern Philology and Neophilologus. In addition to
his work in Medieval Studies, Perry also publishes on the the writings of H.P.
Lovecraft and the historical practice of Anthropodermic Bibliopegy - the
binding of books in human skin. His scholarship on these subjects can be found
in Lovecraftian Proceedings, Notes & Queries, and the collection Flaying in
the Pre-Modern World.
80 Years of
‘Co(s)mic Horror’: Lovecraft in Comics and Comic Art from the 1940s to Today -
Michael Torregrossa, Independent Scholar
Michael
A. Torregrossa is a graduate of the Medieval Studies program at the University
of Connecticut (Storrs) and works as an adjunct instructor in English in both
Rhode Island and Massachusetts. His research focuses on popular culture’s
adaptation and appropriation of literary classics, including the Arthurian
legend, Beowulf, Dracula, and Frankenstein. In addition, Michael is the founder
of The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain and The
Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in
Popular Culture; he also serves as editor for these organizations' various
blogs and moderator of their discussion lists. Besides these activities,
Michael is also active in the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture
Association and organizes sessions for their annual conference in the fall.
Michael is currently Monsters and the Monstrous Area Chair for NEPCA, but he
previously served as its Fantastic (Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror) Area
Chair, a position he held from 2009-2018.
FRIDAY, 10/22
SESSION #1 (1-2:15 PM):
Monsters and the Monstrous 5
Monsters of
Beowulf: Past, Present, Future (Session Chair: Derya Agis)
The Pain that
Humanizes: Lynd Ward's Images of Beowulf - Cortney Berg, City University of New
York
Cortney
Berg received a master’s degree in art history from Arizona State University in
2020, and is currently pursuing a PhD in art history at the City University of
New York. She is focused on the visual arts of the European medieval period,
and has worked on issues of sex and gender in manuscript images, the
intersection between text and image, monstrous depictions, and interactions
with the broader global medieval world.
Grendel: Echoes
of a Pitifully Victimized Monster - Tyler Burdick, Independent Scholar
Tyler
Burdick is a graduate of Fordham University and New York University’s Graduate
School of Arts and Science. He has closely studied English and American
Literature and creative writing, and has a deep interest in many genres of
Western literature including Romanticism, crime fiction, and Victorian
literature. He is currently based in New York.
Monster or
Loving Mother: Grendel's Mother in Graphic Novels - J. Katharine Burton,
University of South Florida
I
am a third year PhD student in English Literature with primary interest areas
in children’s literature, fairy tales/fantasy, with a special emphasis in
adaptations of the classics in English literature in new literary forms for
younger audiences. In exploring literary aspects of these adaptations, I focus
on how the interaction of text and visual materials impacts meaning. I have a
Master of Arts in English Literature from USF and a Bachelor’s in English
Literature from the University of Oklahoma. I also hold two other Masters: a
Master of Arts in Administrative Science focusing on Management Information
Systems at George Washington University; and a Master of Science in National
Security Strategies from the National Defense University with a certificate in
Information Strategies.
Monstrosity and
Gender in Children's Beowulfiana - Benjamin Hoover, California State University
Long Beach
Benjamin
is a third-year graduate student in English at California State University Long
Beach. He has presented on the reception of medieval literature in popular
culture and on theoretical approaches to chivalric identities.
SESSION #2 (2:30-3:45 PM):
Monsters and the Monstrous 6
(Re)Making the
Monster (Panel Presentation) (Session Chair: Lance)
“Perfectly Monstrous
Weather”: The History of Meteorological Terror - Christopher Gilson,
Northwestern State University
Dr.
Christopher Gilson is Associate Professor of History at Northwestern State
University of Louisiana. Dr. Gilson earned the PhD in History at Texas A&M
University, completing the dissertation “Strange and Terrible Wonders: Climate
Change in the Early Modern World.” An active researcher, Dr. Gilson studies the
relationship between climate and history, particularly during the Little Ice
Age of 1550-1850. Current research projects focus on early modern climate
change and the environmental and landscape history of the American South.
Look Again:
Examining the Victorian Monster in the Mirror - Katie Magana, Northwestern
State University
Dr.
Katie Magaña researches science, the supernatural, and the intersection of the
two in Victorian popular literature. She has an additional interest in
rediscovering lost novels that were popular in the nineteenth century and the
legacy of influence that those works have on our contemporary, YA literature.
She holds a PhD in English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington
(New Zealand) and is an Associate Fellow with HEA of the UK. Dr. Magaña is an
Adjunct Instructor of English at Northwestern State University and still
hopeful that she will find a full-time position for the fall.
Monstrous
Self-Management: Pratchett’s Count de Magpyr and the Appeal for Sympathy -
Catherine Joule, Victoria University of Wellington
Dr.
Catherine Joule recently graduated with her PhD in English Literature from
Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). Her doctoral thesis, By the
Strength of Their Enemies: The Virtue of the Stereotypical Antagonist in Terry
Pratchett’s ‘Witches’ Novels focuses on Pratchett’s use of stereotypes in
grounding the moral arguments of his ‘witches’ sequence of Discworld novels. Dr
Joule’s interests include Pratchettian studies, Shakespearean studies, genre
fiction, and postmodern fiction. She has taught classes on genre and literary
history, and guest lectured on Shakespeare and Early Modern poetry. She is
currently an independent scholar pursuing academic postings for the 2022/2023
year.
Monsters and
Revenants in Southeast Texas and Louisiana Oral Folk Narratives - Lisa Abney,
Northwestern State University
Dr.
Lisa Abney is a Professor of English at Northwestern State University. Her
research interests include oral folk narratives, literature of the American
South, and sociolinguistics. She is the Principal Investigator for the
Linguistic Survey of North Louisiana and served as the Director of the
Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern State University. Along with her
ongoing research related to the Linguistic Survey, her current research focuses
upon narratives of world of work and in particular, women’s narratives about
their work lives.
SESSION #3 (4-5:15 PM):
Monsters and the Monstrous 7
Legends and
Lore of Northeastern Monsters (Session Chair: Michael Torregrossa)
New England’s
Monstrous Black Dogs - Faye Ringel, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Professor Emerita
Faye
Ringel is Professor Emerita of Humanities, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London
CT. She is the author of New England's Gothic Literature: History and Folklore
of the Supernatural (E. Mellen, 1995). Its sequel, The Gothic Literature and
History of New England: Secrets of the Restless Dead will be published in
November by Anthem Press. She has also published on (among other subjects) New England
vampires, urban fantasy, Lovecraft, King, Tolkien, Yiddish folklore, and The
Three Stooges. She is the former chair of the former Fantastic Literature area
of and presented at last year’s virtual conference and many in-person NEPCA
conferences. Her CD of traditional music with fiddler Bob Thurston is Hot
Chestnuts: Old Songs, Endearing Charms. Before the Pestilence, she used to
perform with the Klezmer band Klezmenschen, do cabaret with the Chelsea
Players, and produce theater at the Norwich Arts Center in Norwich, CT.
Something
Slithers in the Wilds of Watertown - Michael Bielawa, The Barnum Museum
Award-winning
author and historian Michael Bielawa is well-versed in New England’s
supernatural heritage. His explorations to northeast America’s most mysterious
and sacred sites have resulted in numerous books and articles, including Wicked
Bridgeport (which received the first-ever New England Paranormal Literary
Award) as well as, Wicked New Haven. Bielawa has proudly presented at NEPCA and
Necronomicon; and his essays appear in Lovecraft Proceedings 4, the Edgar Allan
Poe Review, Fortean Times, FATE Magazine, and Connecticut Magazine. Mike’s
research concerning the origins of the Men In Black has been highlighted in the
Italian paranormal journal, XTimes. A frequent guest on radio and television,
Bielawa enjoys celebrating New England’s unique character; his efforts in
actively preserving the region’s history have been featured in The New York
Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. Each autumn Bielawa
leads his dark history tours, Wicked Walks, for The Barnum Museum where he
serves as Special Lecturer and Consultant.
Lovecraft and
Local Legends - Edward Guimont, Bristol Community College
Edward
Guimont is assistant professor of world history at Bristol Community College in
Fall River, Massachusetts. He received his PhD in history from the University
of Connecticut. His scholarship has appeared in publications including The
British Journal for the History of Science, The Tufts Historical Review,
Contingent, and Lovecraftian Proceedings.
SATURDAY, 10/23
SESSION #1 (9-10:15 AM): The
Mouse’s Monsters #1
Monsters and
the Monstrous in the Worlds of Disney 1 (Session Chair: Michael
Torregrossa/Priscilla Hobbs)
Disney’s
Material Monstrosities: Audio-animatronics - Carissa Baker, University of
Central Florida
Carissa
Baker is an Assistant Professor of Theme Park and Attraction Management at the
University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, FL. She received her Ph.D. in
Texts and Technology from UCF. Her primary research focuses on narratives in
the theme park space, drawing on her BA and MA in Literature. In addition to
academic conferences, she presents at themed entertainment industry events and
publishes on various aspects of theme parks. Dr. Baker has taught in China and
had two stints as a visiting scholar at Breda University of Applied Sciences in
the Netherlands.
The
Transformation of the “Brilliant and Mad” into a Monster - Frchkoska Leni,
University of St. Cyril and Methodius
Enrolled
in doctoral studies at the University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, N.
Macedonia at the Department of General and Comparative Literature on a topic
with a focus on the theory of power and (re) production of ideology through art
form for children and youth. I graduated at the same department on the theme of
‘Psychoanalytic Aspects of Literature and Film’ and received my master’s degree
in 2013 on the topic ‘Psychoanalytic elements of the fairy tale and its
presence in contemporary culture’.
SESSION #2 (10:30-11:45): The
Mouse’s Monsters #2
Monsters and
the Monstrous in the Worlds of Disney 2 (Session Chair: Michael
Torregrossa/Priscilla Hobbs)
The Excessive
Excessiveness of Oogie Boogie - Philip Serrato, San Diego State University
Phillip
Serrato is Associate Professor of English & Comparative Literature at San
Diego State University. His teaching and research interests include gothic
& horror studies, Chicanx literary & cultural studies, and children's
and young adult literature.
Animals/Monsters/Humans:
Disney, Disability and Liminality - Rachel Milne, University of Glasgow
Rachel
Milne is a graduate of Media Studies at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh.
Her research interests lie in queer theory, disability studies and children’s
media, with an interdisciplinary focus on literature and film. Her
undergraduate thesis centred around representations of disability and
‘othering’ in Disney animations for children, and her forthcoming article “The
Beautiful and the Damned: Depictions of Scottish Childhoods in Small Deaths and
Gasman” investigates the representation of working-class female childhoods in films
by the Scottish director Lynne Ramsay.
Pixar’s
Post-human Counter-gaze in the Toy Story films - Sutirtho Roy, The University
of Calcutta
Sutirtho
Roy, currently pursuing an MA degree in English Language and Literature at the
University of Calcutta, has earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree with a First
Class from the same institution, while also ranking first in his college. He
had further passed his tenth grade with an aggregate of 96% and his twelfth
with 91%. He has co-authored an anthology of poetry and written a novel, which
has garnered positive reviews from several websites including Inkitt and
Webnovel. Furthermore, he had won several gold and silver medals at Olympiads,
secured the third rank in a state-wide essay contest regarding the ills of drug
abuse and bagged a prize at a quiz contest organized by Oxford. His papers have
also been selected for presentation at national and international seminars,
including Brit Grad 2021, as well as renowned international journals. When not
invested in canonical studies, he likes to analyse popular culture, and aims to
pursue his future studies in critical animal studies and post-humanism.
Currently, he freelances at several content writing firms.
SESSION #3 (12-1:15 PM): The
Mouse’s Monsters #3
Monsters and
the Monstrous in the Worlds of Disney 3 (Session Chair: Michael
Torregrossa/Priscilla Hobbs)
Snow, Glass,
Apples as Generic Study of the Gothic Fairytale - Sarah Madoka Currie,
University of Waterloo
Sarah
Madoka Currie 「くり窓花」is a doctoral candidate of the University
of Waterloo, Canada, interested in the intersectionalities and deconstructive
potential of higher education pedagogical strategies & sociocultural
theorizations of psychosocial dis/ability via the North American Mad Movement.
Through compassionate interactionism and leveraging of social determinants and
other humanities-bent formulations of postmodern healthcare policy, Sarah
envisions a professoriate that seeks to normalize everyday activism beyond the
traditional dis/ability paradigm. She has spoken on critical pedagogy, critical
dis/ability theory, compassionate/empathic potentialities and literary
poststructuralist theory crafting in Interdisciplinary Humanities and Mosaic;
as well as multilingual international conference events in Japan, France, UK,
America, Canada, India and Wales.
"I'm the
witch, you're the world": Disney's Witches - Chloe Carroll, University of
Limerick
Throughout
my BA and MA I have pursued studies of magical women, film and television, and
their histories. My current PhD research involves the image of the witch
throughout film and television, and how the gendered identity has existed in
waves and is currently undergoing a new transformation. My MA thesis, ‘The
Handmaid’s Tale from Ronald to Donald: A Feminist Analysis’, led me to further
discussons on equality and the persecution of women revived from history to
serve a renewed purpose for the screen. My research interests focus on the
cultural value of monsters and their representations.
The Magic of
Disney: Monsterized Witches & Good Fairies - Richard Fahey, University of
Notre Dame
Richard
Fahey recently graduated from University of Notre Dame with a PhD in English
(2020) and currently works as Blog Manager & Contributor at the Medieval
Institute’s Medieval Studies Research Blog, and as Managing Book Review Editor
for Religion & Literature at Notre Dame. Richard specializes in Old
English, Middle English, Old Norse-Icelandic, Old Saxon and Latin literature,
and his research interests include medieval wonders, monsters, riddles,
heroism, syncretism, allegory, medievalism and public humanities. Richard is
currently working on transforming his recent dissertation into a monograph, titled
"Psychomachic Monstrosity in Beowulf" and he is also putting together
an edited collection on "White Wizard Male Privilege" for Lexington
Books.
Two Steps
Forward, One Step Back: Disney Monsters and Racism - Chelsea Criez, Ace Charter
High School
Chelsea
Criez currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two
dogs where she teaches high school English to multilingual and immigrant
students. Last year, she earned a Master’s degree in English and Comparative
Literature from San Jose State University and hopes to earn a PhD in English
and teach higher education English composition and literature.
