Jan Jokisch is a Researcher and PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, affiliated with the Heisenberg research group. His academic background includes a Master's in Comparative Literature from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Bachelor's in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from Mainz. He has lectured in German language and literature at Argentine universities and served as a translator for the DEFA Film Library. His research focuses on drama history, quantitative and digital literary studies, and methodologies in the humanities, with current collaboration on the DFG-funded 'Forager Folklore Database (FFDB)' project. Education highlights include a thesis on 'Epistemological Horror in Literature' (2021) and a BA thesis reinterpreting Shklovsky's literary theory through Heidegger's phenomenology (2018). Jokisch has been recognized with DAAD scholarships (2019, 2021) and the Gutenberg Lehrkolleg Award (2018). He has authored and edited conference proceedings, including works on distant reading methodologies and interdisciplinary language studies. His academic work bridges computational analysis with traditional humanities, emphasizing the role of technology in literary research. Collaborations and editorial roles reflect his commitment to fostering international student scholarship and innovative research practices.
Justin Russell Greene serves as an Advanced Instructor in the Department of English within Virginia Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. With over 15 years of teaching experience across multiple institutions, he currently teaches courses in film, literature, and writing at Virginia Tech, where he has been employed since 2019. His academic journey spans various teaching positions at Virginia Tech, Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia Commonwealth University, and several community colleges. Greene earned his BA, MA, and PhD in English and Media, Art, and Text from Virginia Commonwealth University. His educational background reflects his interdisciplinary approach that bridges traditional literary studies with contemporary media and cultural analysis. He has also completed professional development certifications in Anti-Racist Teaching and Foundations of Online Teaching at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on the intersections of cinema, media, and cultural studies, with particular attention to authorship, celebrity, and gender performance. Greene examines how authors and celebrities construct their identities across various media platforms, exploring topics ranging from Quentin Tarantino's cinematic masculinity to Roxane Gay's digital presence. His work often analyzes the performative aspects of identity in contemporary culture, particularly through fashion, social media, and visual storytelling. Greene's scholarly output demonstrates a consistent focus on authorial identity construction across media platforms. His publications reveal a trajectory from examining literary authors' fashion choices to analyzing digital performances of identity on social media, and more recently to cinematic studies of directors like Quentin Tarantino and Jordan Peele. The evolution of his work reflects broader cultural shifts toward digital and visual media while maintaining a consistent theoretical framework centered on performance and identity construction. Joyce Gentry Smoot Award (2025) for Excellence in Teaching by an Instructor As an educator, Greene has served as a reader on graduate student capstones and has been actively involved in curriculum development and pedagogical innovation. He has participated in numerous professional development activities focused on writing instruction, anti-racist pedagogy, and the integration of AI in teaching. His teaching philosophy emphasizes building student confidence in writing abilities, recognizing diverse student backgrounds, and providing individualized feedback to help students develop their unique voices. Greene is currently working on projects examining Jordan Peele's Nope (2022) regarding point-of-view and gore, as well as speculative adaptations in contemporary US media. His research interests continue to evolve with cultural trends while maintaining his core focus on performance, identity, and media representation.
Alison Landsberg is a Professor at George Mason University, affiliated with the Department of History and Art History and the Cultural Studies PhD program. Her research focuses on the politics of memory, affective engagements with the past, visual culture, and the intersections of race, aesthetics, and history. A leading scholar in memory studies, she explores how mass media and popular culture shape historical consciousness and political subjectivity. Her seminal works include *Prosthetic Memory* (2004) and *Engaging the Past* (2015), which analyze how mediated experiences of history foster empathy and progressive politics. Landsberg’s interdisciplinary work bridges film studies, cultural theory, and historiography. She examines how audiovisual media—from films to immersive digital exhibits—produce alternative historical narratives that challenge traditional academic historiography. Her current project, *Impossible Histories*, critiques conventional ‘historicism’ and explores counterhegemonic modes of historical representation. Her teaching spans courses on historical cinema, visual culture, and the politics of memory. She has advised over 20 doctoral students, many of whom explore topics like public history, digital memory, and cultural activism. Landsberg is a frequent keynote speaker at international conferences and has contributed to NPR’s *On the Media* and *The American Scholar* on topics ranging from racial representation to post-postracial America. Landsberg’s research emphasizes the urgency of rethinking historical engagement in an era of fragmented media and contested identities. Her work underscores the ethical and political stakes of how societies remember—and forget—the past.
Bliss Cua Lim is a Professor at the Cinema Studies Institute, University of Toronto, specializing in Philippine cinema, film archiving, and queer theory. She is the author of The Archival Afterlives of Philippine Cinema (2024) and Translating Time: Cinema, the Fantastic, and Temporal Critique (2009), which was a John Hope Franklin Book Prize recipient. Education: PhD in Cinema Studies, New York University; BA in English, University of the Philippines, Diliman Her research explores intersections of cinema, folklore, and political histories, with a focus on archival fragility, transnational horror genres, and camp aesthetics in Southeast Asian media. Recent work analyzes the crisis of state-run film archives and the role of folklore in queer transmedia storytelling. Key trends in her publications include: Queering the Filipinx Zombie Movie (2025) and Cosmopolitan Animisms (2022), which examine genre hybridity and postcolonial spectralities. Her 2013 writings on Philippine archival advocacy and 2015 essays on queer aswang narratives highlight institutional and cultural challenges in media preservation. Scientific Awards: Selected John Hope Franklin Book Prize (2009) Lim serves on the Editorial Collective of Camera Obscura and the Advisory Board of Plaridel: A Philippine Journal of Communication . Her teaching includes courses on Queer Asian Cinemas, Sound and Animation, and Film Cultures II.
Roger Luckhurst is Professor of Modern Literature and currently holds the prestigious Geoffrey Tillotson Chair of Nineteenth Century Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London. A leading scholar in Gothic literature, science fiction, and trauma studies, he has been affiliated with Birkbeck for over 25 years, contributing significantly to interdisciplinary literary and cultural studies. Education and Career Trajectory: 2020-present: Geoffrey Tillotson Chair of Nineteenth Century Studies, Birkbeck College 2008-2020: Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature, Birkbeck College 2004-2008: Senior Lecturer, Birkbeck College 1994-2004: Lecturer, Birkbeck College 1992-1994: Lecturer, University of Hull Research Interests and Scholarly Contributions: Luckhurst's research spans multiple interconnected fields, establishing him as a preeminent voice in literary and cultural studies. His work on late 19th century English literature examines the intersections of Victorian culture with emerging scientific discourses. His expertise in science fiction studies encompasses both literary analysis and cultural theory, exploring how speculative fiction reflects and shapes contemporary anxieties. In Gothic studies , he investigates the persistence of Gothic aesthetics and themes across different media and historical periods. His groundbreaking work in trauma studies has contributed significantly to understanding how literature and culture process collective trauma. Publications and Scholarly Impact: His extensive publication record demonstrates a remarkable breadth of scholarly inquiry. From his early work on J.G. Ballard to his recent comprehensive study of Gothic culture, Luckhurst has consistently produced influential scholarship. His books have been translated into multiple languages including French, Japanese, Turkish, and German, indicating significant international impact. His forthcoming The Gothic: An Illustrated History (2021) promises to be a definitive work in the field. Honors and Awards: 2009: Visiting Research Fellow, University of Birmingham 2009: Visiting Research Fellow, Flemish Academic Centre for Science and the Arts (VLAC), Brussels January-June 2011: AHRC Fellowship, Birkbeck College Spring 2016: Mellon Distinguished Visiting Professor, Department of English, Columbia University, New York Public Engagement and Media Presence: Beyond academia, Luckhurst has demonstrated exceptional commitment to public scholarship. He has served as a broadcaster for BBC radio, bringing literary criticism to wider audiences. His journalism has appeared in leading British newspapers, bridging the gap between academic research and public discourse. This dual role as academic and public intellectual exemplifies Birkbeck's tradition of making scholarship accessible to broader communities. Interdisciplinary Approach and Institutional Contributions: At Birkbeck College, Luckhurst has been instrumental in fostering the institution's renowned culture of interdisciplinary studies. His work seamlessly integrates literary analysis with cultural theory, film studies, architectural history, and scientific discourse. This approach has influenced generations of students and scholars, establishing Birkbeck as a leading center for innovative literary and cultural research.
Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto is a Professor at Waseda University's Faculty of International Research and Education, with a PhD from the University of California, San Diego, MA from UCLA, and BA from SUNY Binghamton. His academic journey includes tenure at University of Iowa, New York University, Princeton University, and Waseda University since 2010. Education: PhD, University of California, San Diego MA, University of California, Los Angeles BA, State University of New York at Binghamton Yoshimoto's research spans Film Studies , Anime Studies , and Planetary Humanities . He explores intersections between cinema and neoliberalism, postcolonial theory in media, and the Anthropocene's representation in visual culture. His work includes analyzing nuclear disasters in film and intermedial adaptation in anime. His publications address topics like AKIRA 's role in English-speaking anime studies, In This Corner of the World 's transmedia adaptation, and populism in Hollywood films. He led the 2019 international symposium 'Theorizing Anime' at Waseda University. Scientific Awards: FY2014 Scientific Research Grant Review Committee Award 2014 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant Yoshimoto has conducted funded research projects, including 'Reconsidering Japanese Anime Studies' (JSPS 2019-2022) and 'Contemporary Hollywood Films and the Shock Effect' (Waseda University). He teaches courses on cultural critical theories and international communication at graduate and undergraduate levels.
Simon Hewitt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies at Maynooth University, within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. He holds a PhD in Film Studies from King's College London, an MA in Film Studies from Columbia University, and a BA (Hons) in Screen Studies from Liverpool John Moores University. His research bridges media audiences and industries, focusing on how social media transforms audience participation and their relationship with film dynamics. Current projects include studies on intermedial labor in UK scare attractions, video game/cinematic convergence, and the financial exploitation of paratextual fan communities. Professional affiliations include being an Associate Fellow of Advance HE and a member of the Social Research Ethics Subcommittee. Hewitt supervises projects on fandom, participatory culture, marketing, and emergent technologies. His 2023 book Word-of-Mouth in Contemporary Hollywood examines audience influence on film financing, marketing, and distribution through Bourdieuean frameworks.
Niklas Salmose is a Professor at the Department of Languages , Linnaeus University , Sweden. His research integrates Nostalgia , Intermediality , and Ecocriticism , focusing on Environmental Humanities and Modernist Literature . PhD in English from the University of Edinburgh (2012) Visiting Professor at UCLA (Autumn 2018) Vice-Chair of Department of Languages (Linnaeus University) Co-coordinator of the graduate school MIDWorld (Swedish Research Council-funded) His recent work explores the intersection of Climate Crisis and Intermediality through monographs like Mediations of Nostalgia: Aesthetics, Intermediality, Ecology (Edinburgh UP, 2024). He co-edits special issues on Ecological Emergencies and Blue-Eco Stories with journals Humanities and Textus . Salmose supervises four PhD projects on topics ranging from Intermedial Ecocriticism to Western Imperialism and Nostalgic Aesthetics . He is a member of the Linnaeus University Centre for Intermedial and Multimodal Studies and leads projects like Future Food Cultures in the Anthropocene and IMS Green . His publications span Climate Crisis , Anthropocene , Nordic Noir , and Sensorial Aesthetics , with notable works in The Palgrave Handbook of Intermediality , The Routledge Handbook of Nostalgia , and Contemporary Ecocritical Methods . Salmose is actively involved in editorial boards for Humanities and Text Matters , and serves on the executive board of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society .
Chia-rong Wu serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Global, Cultural and Language Studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, holding this position since June 2019. His academic work centers on Sinophone literature, film, and video games through postcolonial theories, Indigenous studies, diaspora, and ecocriticism frameworks. Dr. Wu earned his PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His scholarly contributions include two monographs: Supernatural Sinophone Taiwan and Beyond (Cambria Press, 2016) and Remapping the Contested Sinosphere: The Cross-cultural Landscape and Ethnoscape of Taiwan (Cambria Press, 2020). He has co-edited Taiwan Literature in the 21st Century: A Critical Reader (Springer, 2023) and is preparing The Southern Discourse in Sinophone Literature: Moving Borders (Routledge, forthcoming September 2025). His research examines cultural production across Taiwan and the Sinophone world, with particular focus on how literature, film, and video games engage with historical trauma, identity formation, and cultural politics. Recent projects explore youth narratives in Taiwanese horror video games, Indigenous perspectives on Oceanic Taiwan, and the global South discourse in Sinophone literature, revealing connections between transnational migration, racial dynamics, gender politics, and indigenous awareness. Dr. Wu serves as executive editor and Advisory Board member of Taiwan Lit and the Global Sinosphere (ISSN: 2994-6816), and holds positions on the Board of the American Association for Chinese Studies, the International Advisory Board of Interdisciplinary and Transcultural Approaches to Chinese Literature (Routledge Book Series), and the Cultural History Editorial Advisory Board (Bloomsbury Book Series). Currently supervising PhD students in Sinophone literary and cultural studies, Dr. Wu is developing a new monograph focused on transmedia narratives of youth politics, continuing his exploration of how contemporary media forms engage with political consciousness and historical memory in Taiwan and beyond.
Ernest Mathijs is a Professor in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Department of Theatre and Film. His research focuses on cult cinema, genre analysis, European horror films, and the reception of alternative cinema. He has authored monographs on David Cronenberg and Ginger Snaps , co-edited The Routledge Companion to Cult Cinema , and produced/co-wrote the documentary The Quiet Revolution (2019). He chairs the editorial board of Participations and is an associate member of UBC’s Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. Research interests include: Cult film theory and global audiences Genre evolution (e.g., horror, fantasy, reality TV) Canadian film history Authorship and auteur studies Media industries and digital cinema Selected works highlight his exploration of The Lord of the Rings ’ reception, Belgian cinema, and the activism of Delphine Seyrig. His teaching spans undergraduate and graduate courses on cult cinema, media audiences, and film theory.
Hélène Charlery is a Lecturer in Anglophone Studies at the Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès, affiliated with the Center for Anglophone Studies (CAS). She has held this academic position since 2008 and is actively engaged in research and scholarly activities. Her primary research interests center on intersectionality in American cinema and series , with a specific focus on Black American female directors and the representation of African American women in film and media. Her work critically examines the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality in visual narratives. Her recent publications, including the 2024 journal issue Mainstreaming Intersectionality in Contemporary Cinema and Television which she co-edited, and articles on films by Dee Rees, Ava DuVernay, and Jordan Peele, demonstrate a consistent and evolving scholarly trajectory. Her research analyzes how contemporary films and television series negotiate complex social identities and political themes, particularly through the lens of Black feminism. Scientific Responsibilities Co-Secretary of the Society for the History of Women in the Americas (SHAW) Thesis Supervision Co-supervised the doctoral thesis of Mikael Toulza on Voodoo in North American audiovisual fiction. She has presented her research at numerous international conferences, contributing to academic discourse on gender, race, and representation in the English-speaking world.
Iain Robert Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Film Studies at King’s College London, specializing in transnational cinemas, cult film studies, and transnational adaptation. He previously held a Senior Lecturer position at the University of Roehampton (2010–2016). His research challenges hegemonic views of cultural globalization by examining how Hollywood films are remade and adapted across cultures. He co-founded the SCMS Transnational Cinemas group and led the AHRC-funded 'Media Across Borders' research network (2012–). Smith holds a PhD and MA in Film Studies (Distinction) from the University of Nottingham and a First-Class MA (Hons) in English Literature and Film Studies from the University of Glasgow. His research interests include Transnational Cinemas post-1945, Global Hollywood, Popular Cinemas of Asia (especially India and Turkey), and Cult/Exploitation Horror Cinema. He co-edited Transnational Film Remakes (2017) and Media Across Borders (2016), and authored The Hollywood Meme (2016). Current projects include a book on global Batman adaptations and a decolonizing critique of cult film studies. Awards: AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker (2018), Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2018) Teaching: Specializes in film history, world cinema, and cult/exploitation cinema. Organized festivals like the Turkish Film Remakes event (2022) and the Turkish Star Wars UK tour (2018). Publications: Over 30 peer-reviewed articles and edited volumes, with recent focus on global horror dynamics, decolonizing film studies, and transnational giallo remakes. He serves on editorial boards for Transnational Screens and Intensities: Journal of Cult Media , and founded the 'Remakesploitation Film Club' at The Cinema Museum. His work bridges academic research with public engagement through film screenings and director Q&As.
Joel Westerdale is an Associate Professor of German Studies at Smith College, where he also serves as Chair of German and Italian. He is affiliated with the Film and Media Studies and Comparative Literature programs, with courses cross-listed in Jewish Studies and the History of Science. Ph.D. and A.M. from Harvard University B.A. from University of Michigan His research focuses on 19th-21st century German literature, intellectual history, and early cinema. He examines intersections between language, technology, and cultural expression, particularly in works like Nietzsche’s Human, All Too Human and early German films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari . Recent scholarly contributions include analyses of Nazi-era film historiography and Nietzschean philosophical themes in literature. He has conducted extensive research at institutions in Germany, including University of Freiburg and Center for Literary and Cultural Research (ZfL) in Berlin. Grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, U.S. Fulbright Commission, and Whiting Foundation have supported his work. He co-directed Smith’s Kahn Liberal Arts Institute Evil project (2011–12) and led the study abroad program at University of Hamburg (2015–16).
Harry Warwick is a Teaching Professor in Twentieth-Century and Contemporary Literature at the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick. His research focuses on British and American speculative literature and cinema, environmental and energy humanities, and critical theory. Education: BA, University of Southampton MA, University of Southampton PhD, University of Southampton His scholarship examines speculative fiction and film through lenses of energy infrastructure, capitalist enclosure, and utopian/dystopian social worlds. Recent publications analyze Battersea Power Station's symbolism, Marxian interpretations of "cognitive estrangement," and critiques of neoliberalism in media. Scientific Awards: Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship in English Warwick's 2023 monograph Dystopia and Dispossession in the Hollywood Science-Fiction Film, 1979-2017 investigates enclosure theory in sci-fi aesthetics, while his ongoing project A Second Modernity explores energy futures in speculative culture.
Arnika Fuhrmann is a Professor at Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences, with appointments in Asian Studies, Comparative Literature, and Feminist, Gender & Sexuality Studies. She specializes in Southeast Asian aesthetic and political modernities through Buddhist and queer frameworks. PhD from University of Chicago (2008) MA from University of Hamburg (1995) Her research intersects Buddhist affect , queer theory , and transnational cinema , focusing on Thailand's cultural production. Key themes include: Ghostly aesthetics as political critique Queer-feminist filmic archives Buddhist-Muslim coexistence models Digital media and political temporality Recent articles examine Hong Kong's queer urbanity, Thai video art, and cross-regional horror film analysis. As associate editor of positions: asia critique , she contributes to academic discourse on Asian cultural theory. Current projects: In the Mood for Texture (Bangkok's Chinese aesthetics) and Digital Futures (media temporality)
