EDUCATION
Ph.D. English, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, May 2021
Dissertation: “From the Hearth to the Battlefield: Rebuilding Alternate Kinships in Women’s Post-Apocalyptic Literature, 1945-2018”
Dissertation Committee: Dr. Jonathan Goodwin (Chair), Dr. Yung-Hsing Wu, and Dr. Jennifer Geer
MA English, Weber State University, 2011
MA History, Utah State University, 2011
Thesis: “I neither omit aught, nor have I omitted aught”: Embodying a Sovereign−The Resident Ambassador in the Elizabethan Court, 1558-1560” Committee: Dr. Norman L. Jones (Chair), Dr. Robert Cole, Dr. Phebe Jensen, and Dr. Robert Mueller
BS History and English, Weber State University, 2005
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2022 – Present Visiting Instructor, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, English Department
2019 – 2022 Adjunct Instructor; South Louisiana Community College, English Department
Fall 2020 Adjunct Instructor, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, First-Year Experience
2013 – 2018 Graduate Assistant; University of Louisiana at Lafayette, English Department
2011 – 2013 Adjunct Instructor; Weber State University, English Department
2007 – 2009 Graduate Assistant; Utah State University, History Department
2006 – 2007 Adjunct Instructor; Weber State University, English Department
PUBLICATIONS
In Progress
Media Review of Borderlands. Science Fiction Film and Television. TBA
Book Review of The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction. Fanfnir-Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Fall 2025
Media Reviews
Media Review of. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Foundation Vol. 54.1, 2025
Book Reviews
Review of Space Sirens, Scientists and Princesses: The Portrayal of Women in Science Fiction Cinema by Dean Conrad. Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Vol. 7.1, Spring 2020
Changing Worlds. Changing Ethics. Review of Science Fiction, Ethics and the Human Condition edited by Christian Baron, Peter Nicolai Halvorson, and Christine Cornea. Extrapolation. Vol. 60, No. 2, 2019.
Review of Utopia and Dystopia in Postwar Italian Literature: Pasolini, Calvino, Sanguineti, Volponi by Daniele Fioretti. Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. Vol. 29, No. 1, 2018, pp. 113-115.
Cosmic Watergate: Review of Paranormal and the Paranoid Conspiratorial Science Fiction Television by Aaron John Gulyas. Science Fiction Studies, vol. 43 no. 2, July 2016, pp. 386-387.
Review of Reality Gendervision: Sexuality and Gender on Transatlantic Reality Television, edited by Brenda R. Weber. Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 48 no. 3, October 2015, pp. 1054-1056.
Review of Tarnished Heroes, Charming Villains and Modern Monsters: Science Fiction in Shades of Gray in 21st Century Television by Lynnette Porter. Journal of Popular Culture, vol. 48 no. 5, June 2015, pp. 617-620.
Encyclopedia Entries
“Martha Prynne Thorowgood Moulsworth,” “Margaret and Jane Seymour,” and “Ann Bowyer Ashmole.” A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen, Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500-1560, edited by Carole Levin, Anna Riehle Bertolet, and Jo Eldridge Carney, editors. Routledge, 2016.
Short Stories
“Shattered.” Aleurus, edited by Ryan Evans, Weber State University, 2012, pp. 33-36.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“The Necessity of Violence: from Revolution to Peace in Modern and Contemporary Dystopias.” National Popular Culture Conference. New Orleans, LA: April 2025.
“George Miller’s Feminist Future: A Semiotic Analysis of Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad
Max Saga.” COLA Lecture Series, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA: October
2024.
“There are always two sides, aren’t there?”: The Lines That Divide Us.” Worlding SF: Building, Inhabiting, and Understanding Science Fiction Universes. University of Graz. Graz, Austria: December 2018.
“Creating the Uncanny for Social Revolution: Feminist Utopias: Satire and Prophecy.” South Central MLA. Nashville, TN: November 2015.
“You Know, For a Crazy Homeless Guy, He’s Pretty Cut”: Male Objectification and the Female Gaze in the Marvel Universe Film Adaptations.” National Popular Culture Association. New Orleans, LA: April 2015. Session Moderator
Primetime Science Fiction’s Failure to Speculate: Racial and Gender Othering in Almost Human and Sleepy Hollow. Popular Culture Association South. New Orleans, LA: October 2014.
“Hero + Villain = Anti-Hero: Redefining the Science-Fiction and Fantasy TV Anti-Hero.” National Popular Culture Conference. Chicago, IL: April 2014.
“Our needs are now different, and our aims must be different”: The Path to Dystopia.” Far West Regional Pop Culture Conference. Las Vegas, NV: February 2013. Session Moderator
“Timeless and Universal: Adapting Wells from Books to Cinema.” National Pop Culture Conference. Boston, MA: April 2012. Session Moderator.
“I neither omit aught, nor have I omitted aught”: The Resident Ambassador in the English Court, 1558-1560.” Sixteenth Century Society and Conference. Montreal, CA: October 2010.
“Robert Dudley: A Story of Scandal.” Queen Elizabeth I Conference in conjunction with the South-Central Renaissance Conference. Corpus Christi, TX: March 2010.
“The Historical World of Jane Austen and the Underlying Historical Context of Pride and Prejudice.” Phi Alpha Theta Conference. Logan, UT: 2008.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Developmental Courses:
0083: Foundations in Literacy, South Louisiana Community College
0093: English Workshop, South Louisiana Community College
955: Developmental English, Weber State University
103/104: Introduction to Academic Writing with Tutoring Lab, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
First-Year Composition:
1010: Rhetoric and Composition, South Louisiana Community College
101: Introduction to Academic Writing, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
1010: Introductory College Writing, Weber State University
1020: Composition and Critical Thought, South Louisiana Community College
102: Writing and Researching About Culture, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Themes: Globalization; Gender and Culture
2010: Intermediate College Writing, Weber State University
Sophomore Survey Literature Courses:
202: British Literature II: Literature and Culture in Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Century British Literature
205: American Literature I: Beginnings to 1865
206: American Literature II: 1865 – Present
211: Thematic Approaches to Literature: The Feminine Touch: Women Writers in Science Fiction
211: Women, Gender, and Sexuality: The Utopian Dream: Gender and Sexuality in Speculative Fiction
212: Literature and Other Media: Envisioning the Future: Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Societies
212: Literature and Other Media: Utopian/Dystopian Studies
Upper-Level Literature Courses:
320: Modern Fiction: The End of the World . . . But Not (Post-Apocalyptic Fiction)
320: Modern Fiction: Found Families in Speculative and Fantasy Fiction
Miscellaneous Courses:
UNIV 100: First-Year Experience, University of Louisiana at Lafayette: Women Writers of Science Fiction
UNIV 100: First-Year Experience, University of Louisiana at Lafayette: Prophetic Futures
HONORS AND AWARDS
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Advisor of the Year Award, Sigma Tau Delta, Spring 2025
English Department, Travel Grant
Graduate Student Organization, Conference Travel Grant
- Worlding SF Conference, Fall 2018
- South-Central MLA Conference, Fall 2015
- National Popular Culture Association Conference, Spring 2015
- Popular Culture Association, South Conference, Fall 2014
- National Popular Culture Association Conference, Spring 2014
- Graduate Student Organization, Research Grant, Fall 2016
- Student Government Association, Conference Travel Grant
- National Popular Culture Association Conference, Spring 2015
External Awards
University of Graz, Conference Travel Grant
- Worlding SF Conference, Fall 2018
Weber State University
English Department, Conference Travel Grant
- National Popular Culture Association Conference, 2012
Utah State University
- Graduate Senate, Conference Travel Grant, 2009
- History Department, Conference Travel Grant, 2009
- History Department, Research Travel Grant, 2008
- Carr Fellowship, 2007
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Leadership Positions
- President, Graduate Student Organization, 2016 – 2017
- Procured a $25,000 donation from the VP of Research for the GSO Budget, Spring 2017
- Vice President, Graduate Student Organization, April 2015 – December 2015
- Secretary-Treasurer, Graduate Student Organization, December 2014 – March 2015
- English Department Representative, Graduate Student Organization, February 2014 – December 2015
Committee Positions
- Sigma Tau Delta: International English Society, Faculty Advisor, August 2024-Present
- Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization Committee, August 2022-August 2023
- Graduate Student Representative, Provost Hiring Committee, August 2017 – December 2017
- English Majors Committee Member, August 2013 – Fall 2016
- Graduate Student Representative, Payroll Committee, Spring 2016
- Graduate Student Representative, Graduate Council, Spring 2016 – Spring 2017
- Graduate Student Representative, Appeals Committee, January 2016 – August 2016
- Moderator, Sophomore Committee Workshop, 11 November 2015
- Sophomore Literature Course Review Committee Member, January 2014 – December 2014
- Speaker, College of Liberal Arts Day, English Department, October 2015
- Assistant Fiction Editor, Rougarou, Fall 2013
- Volunteer Tutor, Adult Literacy Program, Weber County Library, 2012 – 2013
Utah State University
- Graduate Student Representative, HASS Dean’s Advisory Council, 2008-09
- History Representative, Graduate Senate, 2008-09
- Judge, Utah History Fair, Spring 2012
Weber State University
- Fiction Editor, Aelurus, 2012-2013
- Adjunct Retreat, February 2013
- Associate Fiction Editor, Aelurus, Spring 2012
Dr. Sarah M. Gawronski 