Current Research
Research Interests
With a PhD in 20th Century American Literature and certification in Women’s Studies, and an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications, most of my research interrogates gender, literature, culture and media. I am interested in the intersection between gender and violence in popular culture including, but not limited to, the comic genre, as evidenced in my dissertation. I also explore film and television as texts that give great insight into contemporary culture. Another aspect of my dissertation and my research interests is the differentiation between postmodern urban fiction and the Southern Gothic tradition, especially as it involves Flannery O’Connor, Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner and Beth Henley. I am also interested in combining theories of third wave feminism, postcolonial studies and Marxism in understanding how gender is constructed, deconstructed, and understood.
Women's Health
As a two-time cancer survivor with a BRCA2 gene mutation, I have personally had a lot of experience with research physicians. Before my first diagnosis, I began working on an interdisciplinary project that interrogates the way male research physicians treat female reproductive illnesses. Using the play, Wit, and the film, God Said, Ha! as my primary texts, I am evaluating the bedside manner of physicians who see their female patients as research, rather than as people who need to preserve their dignity and emotional wellbeing.
Trolling
Since I began teaching Gender, Sexuality, and New Media, I have been particularly interested in the ways in which the anonymity if the internet has led to cyberbullying and the violent content aimed at women, in particular. Based, in part, on Jon Ronson's So, You've Been Publicly Shamed, I am exploring stories of female public figures who have experienced threats of rape and violence in response to expressing their views. I am particularly interested in female authorship, and will be looking at current trolling trends in the tradition of public reaction to female authors.
Sexual Violence
I presented a paper at the national PCA/ACA in 2009 entitled "Women and Violence in Film and Television Comedy" that I am currently updating. This project looks at darkly humorous visual texts and the way that they use violence against and/or by women to reflect gender tension in society. This project includes discussions of works from I Love Lucy to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the works of Quentin Tarantino.