Aren Roukema

Aren Roukema is a Sessional Lecturer and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of English Language and Literatures, University of British Columbia, with research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His work bridges literary criticism, cultural studies, and religious thought to analyze intersections of narrative and secular/post-secular discourses.

Research Interests focus on marginal cultural spaces where heterodox traditions like Theosophy and Parapsychology interact with science fiction, gothic literature, and genre fiction. Key themes:

• Transmission of racisms and racial hierarchies
• Occult empiricism in Victorian and contemporary texts
• Cultural-historical analysis of esoteric traditions
• Decolonial implications in secular societies

Publication Trends include interdisciplinary studies of Charles Williams’s occult fiction, alchemy in fantasy literature, and spiritualism in science fiction. His 2018 monograph Esotericism and Narrative remains a seminal text in occult literary studies.

Scientific Awards include

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada fellowship
• Wellcome Trust postdoctoral funding

Teaching emphasizes first-year writing, critical theory, and analysis of texts from Gothic to postcolonial contexts. Courses often explore conflict, identity, and narrative’s role in cultural dialogue.