Kim Snowden

Kim Snowden is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Feminist Media Studies and Popular Culture at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice within UBC's Faculty of Arts. She has held this position since completing her PhD in Women's and Gender Studies from UBC in 2004 and currently serves as the Undergraduate Co-Chair and Academic Advisor for GRSJ students.

Her scholarly work spans multiple disciplines with particular expertise in cultural studies, literary studies, film studies, popular culture, and fairy tale studies. Dr. Snowden teaches a diverse range of courses including social media, folk and fairy tales, vampires, science fiction and fantasy, social justice storytelling, young adult literature, and monsters. In recent years, she has developed and taught GRSJ 225 (Youth Activism and Social Justice) which explores youth movements, digital activism, fan cultures, and literature by and for youth.

Dr. Snowden's publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly engagement with fairy tale studies, feminist media analysis, and cultural criticism. Her research trajectory shows an evolution from traditional literary and film analysis toward contemporary explorations of fandom cultures and digital media. Her most recent work examines the gendered, sexual, and racial politics of shipping in television fandoms like The Vampire Diaries and The 100, analyzing how fan communities create space for queer readings while also navigating problematic behaviors like harassment and entitlement.

She has taught continuously at UBC since 2004 and currently teaches GRSJ 224B and C (Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice in Literature) as well as GRSJ 225 (Youth Activism and Social Justice) across multiple academic terms through 2025. Her teaching portfolio reveals a commitment to intersectional approaches that connect literary analysis with contemporary social justice issues, particularly through the lens of youth culture and digital media.