معرفی
Michelle Chihara is an Associate Professor of English at Whittier College, where she also directs the Whittier Scholars Program. She teaches courses in creative writing, contemporary American literature, and media studies. Her academic work bridges literature, finance, and popular culture.
- Education: B.A. from Yale University; M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine
Chihara’s research focuses on the intersections of contemporary American literature with late capitalist ideology, behavioral economics, and media aesthetics. She explores how reality television and influencer culture reflect neoliberal values, and how popular media and literary forms respond to financialization and economic disparity. Her co-edited volume, The Routledge Companion to Literature & Economics, provides a foundational framework for analyzing literary and economic relationships.
Her most recent scholarly work examines behavioral economics, reality television, and real estate dynamics during the 2008 financial crisis. She has written about game theory in popular media, gender politics in pop music, and the aesthetic construction of authenticity in the influencer economy.
Chihara previously worked as a reporter before transitioning to academia. Her creative and nonfiction work appears in publications such as the Los Angeles Review of Books, Postmodern Culture, and Studies in American Fiction. She has also contributed to edited collections like Slouching Towards Los Angeles, where she reflects on personal and regional identity.
