Teaching Experience
Teaching is about finding ways of learning together. For me, that means talking together about questions having to do with making sense of the human experience, understanding what motivates us, and discovering how we can be better human beings. I love teaching at BYU because the students are talented and insightful and because we are all working together to contribute to the school’s unique mission.
Research
My research interests generally fall into the broad categories of popular literature, genre film, and adaptation theory. For the last several years, I have focused most of my attention on popular writers such as Stephen King and H. P. Lovecraft, though I am also interested in the larger horror tradition in America generally. I also write about the influence of religion on nineteenth century fiction and on the larger American horror and Gothic tradition.
Selected Publications
Poe, the “House of Usher,” and the American Gothic. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. (Co-authored with Dennis Perry).
The Age of Lovecraft. University of Minnesota Press, 2016. Winner of the Ray and Pat Browne Award for Best Edited Collection, 2017. (Co-edited with Jeffrey A. Weinstock).
Adapting Poe: Re-Imaginings in Popular Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. (Co-edited with Dennis Perry).
“The New Weird.” Book Chapter in Twenty-First-Century Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion. Edinburgh University Press, 161-173. 2019.
“H. P. Lovecraft, Heavy Metal, and Cosmicism.” Rock Music Studies 3.3 (2016): 266-280.
Service
I enjoy working alongside my BYU colleagues and have learned a great deal from every assignment. The most important thing is discovering ways to do things that will serve our students.
Citizenship assignments
I served as department chair from 2015-2021.
I have also been the editor in chief of The Journal of American Culture since 2018.
Office Hours MW 3:00-3:50 or by Appointment