[Caitlin Duffy]

Since we’re all approaching monsters from different disciplines, perhaps it might be helpful to briefly introduce yourself and explain how you use monsters/monstrosity in your work here.

I’ll start:

I’m an English Lit. Ph.D. student at Stony Brook University. As of this Fall, I will be in my second year of the program. My research interests focus mainly on 19th-century Gothic literature, modern horror films, and neoliberalism. While I’ve done some work with vampires/vampirism and their connections with brain science and imperialism, I’m currently focusing on the figures of the murderer and serial killer as they appear in American fiction, film, and non-fictional accounts.

[Fiona Mitchell]

Excellent idea, Caitlin. Thanks for getting it started.

I work in ancient Greek literature and myth primarily, although I’m interested in the way that Greek texts and narratives interact with those from other cultures. At the moment I’m working on the connections between ancient Greek and Indian creation narratives, including the monstrous creator deities of the Orphic theogonies. I’m particularly interested at the moment in the connections between the ideas of chronology/time and bodily abnormality in creation narratives.

My doctoral research was on monsters in Greek literature: ‘Monsters in ancient Greek cosmogony, Ethnography and Biology’.

[John Robert Ziegler]

I divide my research between early modern English literature, especially drama (the focus of my doctoral research), and contemporary pop culture, with a concentration on the pop-culture side on monsters/the supernatural/sci-fi that has increased over time. Currently, I am working on an article about shapeshifting and subjectivity in the video game series Prototype and a book-length project on the resistance to non-heteronormative family structures, including zombie-human families, in The Walking Dead franchise. I also help to edit a small journal, Supernatural Studies.

[Author]

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