Scholarship: Papers, Presentations & Posts

Papers, presentations, and panels.

2022

”‘I Suggest You May Be Human‘: Humanity and Human Action in Dune” in Discovering Dune: Essays on Frank Herbert’s Epic Saga, ed. Dominic J. Nardi and N. Trevor Brierly. New York: McFarland, 2022.

2021

“A translator is not free”: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Rules for Translation and Their Application in Sir Orfeo – Tolkien Studies Vol. 18 (2021), West Virginia University Press, pp. 63-92.

“All worlds are equally real”: Surveying Robert Heinlein’s Parallel Universes in The Number of the Beast and The Pursuit of the Pankera – Presented at Mythmoot VIII: The World Ahead, June 24-27, 2021, in Leesburg, VA

2020

“Ever-Defeated Never Altogether Subdued”: Fighting the Long Defeat in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Whedon’s Angel

Journal of Tolkien Research, 10.1 (Special Issue: J.R.R. Tolkien and the works of Joss Whedon), co-written with Katherine Sas
Presented with Katherine Sas at Mythmoot VII: Defying and Defining Darkness (online), August 6-9, 2020

2019

“‘I suggest you may be human’: Humanity and Human Action in Dune” – Presented at Mythmoot VI: Dragons, June 27–30, 2019, in Leesburg, VA

Mythgard Movie Club:

Blade Runner (1982) – January 31, 2019 (YouTube)
Blade Runner 2049 – May 14, 2019 (YouTube)
Camelot – August 8, 2019 (YouTube)
Captive State – April 18, 2019 (YouTube)
Pan’s Labyrinth – October 10, 2019 (YouTube)
Watership Down (miniseries) – September 5, 2019 (YouTube)

2018

“A translator is not free”: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Guidelines for Translation and Their Application in Sir Orfeo – Presented at Mythmoot V: Fantastic Frontiers, National Conference Center, Leesberg, VA, June 21-24, 2018

Lazarus Long’s Recovery in Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein – Presented at Texmoot, Scarborough College, Fort Worth, TX, Jan. 13, 2018

Mythgard Movie Club

A Wrinkle in Time – March 29, 2018 (YouTube)
Alien – May 3, 2018 (YouTube)
Edward Scissorhands – August 2, 2018 (YouTube)
Night of the Living Dead – November 15, 2018 (YouTube)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi – January 10, 2018 (YouTube)
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – February 22, 2018 (YouTube)
Predestination – September 6, 2018 (YouTube)
She (1935) – October 11, 2018 (YouTube)
Solo: A Star Wars Story – June 14, 2018 (YouTube)

2017

Praxeology and literature: the intersection of action and imagination

Thesis for M.A. in Language & Literature at Signum University
Presented at Mythmoot IV: Invoking Wonder, National Conference Center, Leesberg, VA, June 1-4, 2017

Mythgard Movie Club:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Dec. 24, 2017 (YouTube)

2015

“We have nothing else to give”: Kindness and Cruelty in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (abstract) — Presented at Mythmoot III: Ever On…, BWI Marriott, Baltimore, MD, Jan. 9-11, 2015

Follow the Trail of Trailers to The Force Awakens, Mythgard.org, Nov. 6, 2015

Police Brutality Is in the Headlines, So Where Is Our Jim Gordon of ‘Gotham’? PopMatters. July 14, 2015.

Book Review: Michael Newton’s “Victorian Fairy Tales.” Signum Eagle. May 2015.

“I’ve Never Met Anyone I Didn’t Disappoint”: In Your Eyes’ Flaws and Fortes — Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion, 2nd ed. (April 2015)

2014

Book Review: Amy Pascale’s Joss Whedon: A Biography. Signum Eagle. October 2014.

Exploring Cabins in the Whedonverse Woods — Slayage 11.2/12.1 [38-39], Summer 2014

2013

The Masks of Moloch: Demands of Sacrifice in Speculative Fiction and Film (abstract) — Presented at Mythmoot II: Back Again, The Conference Center at the Maritime Institute, Linthicum, Maryland in Baltimore, MD, Dec. 13-15, 2013

The Left Hand of Kindness: Cruelty and Its Effects in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness”. Nov. 16, 2013.

Exploring Cabins in the Whedonverse Woods — Presented at Joss in June, Cleveland Community College, Shelby, North Carolina, June 29, 2013

Switchblades and Tube Maps: Humanity’s Enduring Similitude in Connie Willis’s “Doomsday Book”. March 4, 2013.

Naturally: Character Assumptions in Joanna Russ’s “When It Changed”. Feb. 13, 2013.