About Me
I'm a leading scholar in Gothic Literature and Horror Film Studies and a university educator with over 20 years of teaching experience. I'm a dedicated Public Scholar who connects my teaching and research to my activism and vice versa.
I specialize in Black Diasporic Gothic and Horror, racial representation in Gothic Literature and Horror Film, and socio-political uses of Gothic and Horror tropes in discussions about race. In simpler words, I specialize in how fiction and society reduces real people to figures of monstrosity.
My work has led to a number of awards and grants including a British Academy Global Professorship (2020) and a Fulbright Scholar award (2017).
Experience
Designer/ Writer, Coded Black Game for PC
This game is the result of comprehensive research and meticulous scene design. I authored both the primary and secondary narratives, and I acquired skills in video, sound, and image editing to enhance numerous assets within the game. Additionally, I collaborated with AI-generated voices for the narration and developed AI-generated images for the associated website.
Associate Professor, Indiana University
I possess extensive experience in the development, implementation, and assessment of courses within the disciplines of Literary Studies, Black Studies, American Studies, Cultural Studies, and Film Studies. I have instructed Horror Film courses annually until assuming my Global Professorship in 2020. My teaching portfolio includes undergraduate seminars, large lecture courses accommodating over 100 students, and intimate graduate seminars. I have mentored numerous Master's and Doctoral candidates, as well as undergraduate thesis projects. Additionally, I have overseen the management of graduate teaching assistants and research assistants, and have actively participated in and chaired various faculty committees.
Coded Black (video game)
Coded Black teaches the long, horrible, contradictory, and illogical history of anti-Blackness and its nightmarish consequences while also providing evidence to counter the racist ideologies.
Recent Projects
African American Gothic in the Era of Black Lives Matter (minigraph)
This Cambridge Element explores twenty-first- century Black Gothic literature and film as it responds to American anti-Blackness. The element argues the "texts" collectively represent a mode of Black Gothic fiction termed Black Lives Matter (BLM) Gothic.
Co-Editor, Bloomsbury Gothic Legacies Series
Gothic Legacies showcases the “living archive” of Gothic writers and other creative artists from around the globe, whether through a critical examination of the persistence and pertinence of their tropes and themes or the creative reception of their works in literature, theatre and performance, popular and fine art, film and television, music, and other media.
Co-Director, Centre for the History of the Gothic, University of Sheffield
I coordinated and facilitated multiple online conferences and symposiums featuring distinguished speakers and keynote presentations from across the globe. Additionally, I conceptualized and executed a hybrid Gothic Futures Summer Institute, a week-long event that hosted in-person participants from four different countries, exclusive of the UK, along with virtual attendees from various other nations.
British Academy Global Professor
I conducted research on the historical context of anti-Blackness in both the US and UK, as well as the application of Gothic tropes within racial discourse. Additionally, I refined my theoretical framework on Racial Discourse, positing it as a generator of Real Horror, contrasting it with the political mobilizations surrounding fictitious folk devils during periods of social panic and/or distress. Furthermore, I designed and implemented a variety of academic modules, supervised both postgraduate and undergraduate dissertations, co-directed a research center, published numerous scholarly articles, and led a team in the development of a curated game inspired by my research.
Skills
Video, Image and Sound Editing Expertise
I possess extensive experience using Audacity, Audio Mass, Canva, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe Photoshop. I am proficient in a wide range of Generative AI programs, including Adobe Firefly and Leonardo AI, which I leverage to create bespoke, project-specific images. Furthermore, I utilize Play.HT, Eleven Labs, and Respeecher for advanced voice modification and creation.
Masterful Research and Analytical Writing
I am an accomplished interdisciplinary researcher with expertise in archival research across culture studies, race studies, and literary studies. I'm also an experienced editor and acclaimed author of numerous impactful essays and books.
Game Design Consultation
I am an expert in visual, sound, and narrative analysis for cultural sensitivity and impactful experiences.
Lecturing and Teaching
As a skilled and passionate university teacher with over 20 years of distinguished experience across diverse classroom and public environments, I am proud to have consistently received nominations for prestigious teaching awards from multiple institutions.
"Real Horror forces itself upon us unbidden. Real Horror renders the subject/ victim helpless and violates his or her most rudimentary expectations about the world."
Robert C Solomon