B.A. (Victoria), M.A. (Queen's)
Supervised by Alan O'Connor
(Working) Dissertation Title: The City and the Disposed: Canadian Goths and Urban Realities
I am turning the critical lens inward and examining the goth/industrial subculture of which I have been an active member for the last 10 years. I am interested in examining how the goth/industrial subculture exists and interacts with the spaces of the city. We face some harsh rejections both symbolically and socially for being “goth,” which Paul Hodkinson (University of Surrey) is currently addressing in terms of physical violence and hate crimes. I think there is a symbolic and ideological rejection of “goth” from society and the spaces of society bases on our fashion choices. I want to understand how it is that people in the goth/industrial subculture create and maintain their subcultural identity using specific spaces, i.e, venues, in their city despite the rejections they face.
I am also involved in student advocacy. I was the Equity Officer for PSAC 901 (the TA and TF union) and Queen's University. For the last two years (2015-2017) I was the Vice President Internal Affairs for the TGSA (Trent Graduate Students' Association. I am the now, proudly, the President of the TGSA.
Publications:
I will not “Shut Up and Swallow:” Combichrist and misogyny in the goth industrial subculture. 2017. In R. E. Jones & E. Davis (Eds.), Under my thumb: The Songs that hate women and the women who love them. London, UK: Watkins Media.
"Urban prophets: Creating graffiti as a means of negotiating the constructs of urban public spaces.” 2015. Stream: Culture/Politics/Technology, 7(2), 32-42.