New Online Course: “The Uncanny & The Abject”

“The Uncanny and The Abject”: Applying Psychology to Disturb the Reader Live Saturday, May 22, 5 P.M. EST — StokerCon 2021 Online Also Available Asynchronously Following the Event! Details TBA DESCRIPTION: This two hour online workshop will unravel the psychological theories of the Uncanny and the Abject. Together, we will explore how they pertain to… Continue reading New Online Course: “The Uncanny & The Abject”

CALL FOR PAPERS: From Carmilla to Drusilla: Vampires Across Popular Culture (dl: Feb 15, 2018)

International Vampire Film and Arts Festival | 7-10 June 2018 | TRANSYLVANIA The third annual International Vampire Film and Arts Festival will take place in Sighisoara in Transylvania, Romania, on June 7th-10th, 2018. And to celebrate their popular fiction dual degree collaboration, WRITE TOGETHER — in which students earn an MA studying at Edinburgh Napier… Continue reading CALL FOR PAPERS: From Carmilla to Drusilla: Vampires Across Popular Culture (dl: Feb 15, 2018)

UO Feminist Media Studies Symposium (10-11 Feb 2017)

This Spring, the University of Oregon Cinema Studies program is hosting a Symposium on Feminist Media Studies in honor of the program founder, Kathleen Rowe Karlyn. Kathleen was my Ph.D. dissertation advisor in the UO English Department back in the late 90’s, helping guide me through the initial research and early draft of The Popular… Continue reading UO Feminist Media Studies Symposium (10-11 Feb 2017)

CALL FOR PAPERS: The Vampire Across Popular Culture (dl: Feb 1, 2017)

CALL FOR PAPERS CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT: The Vampire Across Popular Culture INTERNATIONAL VAMPIRE FILM AND ARTS FESTIVAL Transylvania, Romania May 25-28, 2017 http://www.ivfaf.com The second annual International Vampire Film and Arts Festival will take place in Sighisoara in Transylvania, Romania, on May 25th ‐ 28th 2017. [UPDATE: All paper presentations have been chosen for… Continue reading CALL FOR PAPERS: The Vampire Across Popular Culture (dl: Feb 1, 2017)

Terror Management Theory and the Uncanny Valley (Video)

Here’s a video clip from my lecture last October at Neumann University on the Uncanny Valley. About an hour into the discussion of why androids and animatronics might creep us out, I gave this overview of “terror management theory” to explore how it applies to theories of the uncanny (das Unheimliche) and the representations of… Continue reading Terror Management Theory and the Uncanny Valley (Video)

From “The Uncanny Valley” Talk at Neumann University

Had a GREAT time in Philadelphia this past weekend, where I attended DogCon4 and delivered an address to Neumann University on “The Uncanny Valley.” MANY THANKS to Neumann University for supporting my trip, Dr. Bill Hamilton for inviting/hosting/handling, Dave Bullis for running the media, and of course, all my friends at Raw Dog Screaming Press… Continue reading From “The Uncanny Valley” Talk at Neumann University

“The Uncanny Valley” Event: Guest Lecture at Neumann University 10.23.15

I will be giving a talk about “The Uncanny Valley”, free and open to the public, at Neumann University (near Philadelphia, PA) on the early evening of Oct 23rd. This event doubles as an early bird festivity for Raw Dog Screaming Press’ exciting conference, DogCon4. [Raw Dog is the parent company for Guide Dog Books,… Continue reading “The Uncanny Valley” Event: Guest Lecture at Neumann University 10.23.15

CFP: The Other Daemonic: Estranging the Uncanny

From cfp.english.upenn.edu… “The Other Daemonic: Estranging the Uncanny” Brown University Comparative Literature Graduate Student Conference March 20-21, 2015 Keynote: Prof. Zachary Lesser, University of Pennsylvania contact email: browncomplitgradconference@yahoo.com Have we started to feel at home in the uncanny? A feeling so singular, yet so hard to define, the uncanny has become quite familiar to literary… Continue reading CFP: The Other Daemonic: Estranging the Uncanny

AUDIO: China Mieville Keynote Address from ICFA 2012: On Monsters

In the following audio capture, author China Mieville delivers a keynote address entitled “On Monsters: Or, Nine or More (Monstrous) NOT Cannies.” It was presented at the 33rd Annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, Florida, in Spring 2012. Mieville performs an entertaining and trenchant re-examination of the term “uncanny” and… Continue reading AUDIO: China Mieville Keynote Address from ICFA 2012: On Monsters

The Transformative Power of Horror Film in Education

“The Transformative Power of Film” — online panel — 2pm est. TODAY — I’ll be discussing horror in the classroom:meridianuniversity.edu/index.php/comp… — Michael Arnzen, Ph.D (@arnzen) September 13, 2012 I’ll try to update this entry with the archives afterward, if you can’t attend. The panel, hosted by Christine Jarvis, and featuring Drs. Paul Armstrong, Michele Paule,… Continue reading The Transformative Power of Horror Film in Education