Contributing Authors
Myf Clark
Myf Clark is currently an honours student in the media department at Latrobe University in Australia, after completing a Bachelor of Journalism, where she wrote numerous essays about Buffy in her media and cinema classes. Her honours thesis is focusing on the role of the shadow in Spike and Buffy's relationship in Season Six. Her dream dinner party would consist of Joss Whedon, James Marsters, Eliza Dushku, Amy Acker and Tom Lenk.» "Oh, hello there gentle viewers": The fan community and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Christopher M. Culp
Christopher M. Culp is a graduate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA. with a BA in Philosophy with minors in English, Women's Studies, Music, and Psychology. He is about to set off to graduate school at SUNY Buffalo to study Aesthetics and Music Theory. His interest in "Buffy" comes from the Feminist themes and the unique use of music and gender in the series. He doesn't quite know what he wants to do with his education. but he's hoping that a few years of grad school won't turn him into DarkChris or anything.» "What does it take to strike a spark?" Nietzsche's Apollonian/Dionysian Balance in Buffy
» "But... you're just a girl." The Feminine Mystique of Season Five
Ensley F. Guffey
Ensley F. Guffey is an academic late-bloomer and rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he studies history and can often been seen wandering around campus declining Latin nouns. His essay “’We Just Declared War’: Buffy as General” was originally presented at the 4th Bi-Annual Slayage Conference on the Whedonverses in St. Augustine, FL. In addition to continuing study of the worlds of Joss Whedon, he has also presented on Breaking Bad. Current projects include a paper on Samuel Colt and Supernatural, and a chapter for a forthcoming edited collection on Farscape. Oh! And finishing his B.A. and convincing someone to allow him into graduate school. Then he might nap for a time.» “We Just Declared War”: Buffy As General
Caroline Herman
Caroline Herman is currently an undergraduate sophomore and Hodson scholar at Washington College, Maryland, USA. She is double-majoring in Philosophy and Mythology, while minoring in Creative Writing. Her interest in the Whedonverse was triggered in late 2004 with Buffy and Angel. She plans to pursue mythology and creative writing in graduate school and continue on to doctoral studies in these respective fields.» Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dichotomy of Self: A Study in the Shadow Selves of Buffy and Spike
Gareth James
My primary research interests are contemporary American television, particularly the rise of 'quality tv,' visual aesthetics and issues of identity within serial narratives. I am currrently writing a Masters dissertation on the representation of metaphysical detective tropes in the series 'Twin Peaks' and 'Veronica Mars,' and my future plans involve a PhD study of the American family in modern HBO drama.» Masquerade and Automation: The Unstable Female Body in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Alias
Laura Kessenich
Laura Kessenich graduated from Emerson College in December of 2006 as a member of the honors program, having written a thesis paper analyzing "Restless" from a Jungian standpoint. She has now entered the workforce, and the one thing she likes about getting up early every morning is that it allows her to watch the Buffy and Angel reruns before she goes to her job.» "Wait Till You Have an Evil Twin": Jane Espenson's Contributions to Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Jo Latham
Jo Latham graduated summa cum laude from Monash University, Australia, with an Honours degree in Critical Theory and Gender Studies. Jo’s current research reflects an interest in queer theories and intersectionality, especially the avoidance of ftm [female-to-male transgender] bodies and experiences in feminist theorising.Theorising popular culture (drug use and Buffy) is an escapist pursuit from the material-discursive dysphoria that work engenders.
» "[I]s it dangerous?" Alternative readings of "drugs" and "addiction" in Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Donna Lowe
Donna Lowe became a Buffy fan in late 2003, after she couldn't bear any more of the obscure references her co-worker kept making and had to see what all the fuss was about. Thanks to DVD box sets she became hooked in a matter of months, and has spent substantial portions of the last two years immersed in the Whedonverse - when she's not working at her day job in the Music Library on the campus of Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada (from where she holds a Bachelor of Music degree) or completing her second Honours Bachelor's degree in English and Theatre, with a focus on postmodernism and its aftermath. Donna also works as the Musical Director of a local theatre company, and hopes that someday Joss will adapt the Buffy episode Once More with Feeling for the stage, so she can be first in line to obtain performance rights.» The Last Spike: Jungian Individuation In Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Monica Marinov
My name is Monica Marinov, I'm currently a third year undergraduate student in Media and Communications at the University of Melbourne. My interest (both academic and casual) lies in television, fan communities and media theory. I plan to continue onto Honours and, in my postgraduate studies, I hope to pursue the strands of media theory that concentrate on television and fandom. I became a Buffy fan early in its run, and it opened me up to the vast literature that can surround pop culture, sparking my interest in the area. Faith and Spike will always remain my favourite characters for their moral ambiguity.» Traveling Between Mediums: Buffy's Ascent into Television
Joan Morse
Joan Morse graduated from Emerson College with a degree in media arts. She enjoys Howard Hawks, Hitchcock, and anything Rod Serling. She currently resides in Los Angeles.» Dawn as Ophelia: The Conflicting Femininities of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Faith Parke
Faith Parke is a recent graduate from Campbell University with a BA in History. Her Whedonstudies began in history and English classes, culminating in her senior honors thesis about the
character of Faith. She is now completing her history Masters thesis at the University of North
Carolina, Wilmington, studying the Soviet Union and international youth culture during the mid-
twentieth century.
» “I Hope Evil Takes MasterCard”: Faith the Vampire Slayer and the Image of the Bad Girl in Society
Eric Reed
Eric Nicholas Reed is currently a senior sociology major and Writing Center consultant at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. Along with is interest in Sociology, Eric is also doing researching work in first year writing pedagogy, media rhetoric, and communication. He has participated in a panel on the use of Mass Media in Communication Instruction and presented a paper at the Southern States Communication Association Undergraduate Honors Conference. Currently, he is working on an ideological criticism of Buffy, looking specifically at the treatment of African American men on the show. After he has completed his Undergraduate work, Eric plans to attend graduate school to study the Sociology of Mass Media.» The Case For Faith: The Rogue Vampire Slayer's Search for Identity
Jared S. Rose
Jared S. Rose graduated magnum cum laude from The University of Toledo with two separate degrees in Philosophy and Psychology. At the time of publication, Jared was working on his master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with plans to continue on into the doctoral program in Counselor Education and Supervision. Jared has spent 20 years providing sexual-health education and counseling with a strong focus on HIV/AIDS where he works with a variety of demographics including LGBTQA, youth, human trafficking victims, sex-workers, ex-offenders, substance use/abuse, and un-housed. He has been a featured conference speaker not only throughout his home state of Ohio, but also at international platforms. Jared’s research interests and activities within philosophical, feminist, and queer studies realms tends to focus on ethics, as well as influences of both media and popular culture on society. Additionally, he continues to conduct research in the social sciences in various aspects of HIV/AIDS..» ”You Know, I'm Extremely Youthful. And Peppy!“: Buffy, Playing Girl, and Popular Culture Representation of Sex-Worker Feminism
Katie Saulnier
Katie Saulnier is currently completing her fifth (and final!) year of a BA at Mount Allison University with honours in Philosophy and a major in English. Her research has included the acceptable academic fields of ethics, feminism and queer theory, along with frequent forays into fantasy and science fiction. She has been addicted to all things Joss Whedon since the third episode of Buffy (when she was way too young for such television.) In the summer of 2007 she was awarded her first research grant and proceeded to spend four months happily reading gothic novels and watching Buffy. This paper is a condensed version of the results of this research.» From Virtuous Virgins to Vampire Slayers: The Evolution of the Gothic Heroine from the Early Gothic to Modern Horror
Madeline Stahl
» The Dead Poet's SocietyLaura Suisted
Laura Suisted is currently studying towards a BA (in Art History and Media Studies) and a BCA (in Management) at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. Becoming a Buffy fan in 2002 led to friendships and discussion with others around the world, further broadening her perspective of issues explored on the show. She is particularly interested in the portrayal of gender and relationships on Buffy, and its use of metaphor and symbolic imagery.» Breaking Conventions to Build the Buffyverse
