Chris Koenig-Woodyard

Chris Koenig-Woodyard is a Sessional Lecturer III at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) in the Department of English and Drama. He has been teaching for 20 years, specializing in 18th-21st-century literature with a focus on genre studies, particularly Gothic and Monster Studies, Transatlantic Romanticism, Victorianism, and the interplay between literature and pop culture (e.g., Twilight, Lady Gaga, Dungeons & Dragons).

• Education: BA (Wilfred Laurier University), MA (University of Western Ontario), DPhil (University of Oxford).

His research explores Posthumanism, Gothic literature, and pedagogical innovation. He founded the Monster Studies Lab and co-edited Transatlantic Romanticism: An Anthology and Sullen Fires Across the Atlantic. He has contributed to major anthologies like The Broadview Anthology of British Literature and published extensively on vampire demography, gothic typology, and transatlantic literary exchange.

Key awards include the Undergraduate Teaching Award at the University of Toronto and multiple teaching excellence nominations. His courses span topics from Jane Eyre to Taylor Swift, reflecting his commitment to bridging historical and contemporary cultural analysis. He emphasizes critical thinking through ambiguity in Gothic literature and maintains a 'pedagogy of care' in his teaching approach.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Undergraduate Teaching Award (University of Toronto)
  • TVO’s Best Lecturer competition finalist
  • Leadership in Faculty Teaching award (Ontario)
  • Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (UTM)

As a co-editor of the Transatlantic Romanticism anthology and a contributor to Mixed-Race Superheroes, Dr. Koenig-Woodyard’s work spans both traditional literary scholarship and modern genre analysis. His research on the Anthropocene in The Bone Clocks and gothic pedagogy demonstrates interdisciplinary engagement.