Christopher Maverick

Christopher Maverick is a Teaching Professor in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh, affiliated with programs like Digital Narrative and Interactive Design. His research focuses on intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality in 20th/21st-century American popular culture, including TV, film, professional wrestling, and comic books. He holds a Ph.D. in English from Duquesne University and degrees from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Maverick has received prestigious awards including the 2018 Lent Award (PCA), 2021 Gilbert Seldes Prize Honorable Mention (CSS), and 2023 Kathy Merlock Jackson Award (PCA). He chairs the PCA’s Erotica and Pornography in Popular Culture division and hosts academic podcasts like The VoxPopcast and Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow.

Before academia, he spent two decades as a UX designer and information architect. He created the webcomic Cosmic Hellcats (2008–2018), ran an internet cult focused on selfies (2006), and competed as a professional wrestler (2003–2010).

• Labs/Teams: Digital Media Lab, STEM Coding Lab, School of Computing and Information
• Publications: Focused on superhero comics, cultural identity, and ethical historical portrayals