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Dr Michael Goodrum

Reader

School of Humanities & Educational Studies

I am a Reader in Cultural History. I teach across all three levels of study on BA History, on the MA in Modern History, and supervise research students.

I am a specialist in Cultural History, with a particular focus on Comics Studies, Horror Studies, science fiction, and superheroes. Within these areas, I am interested in histories of gender, race, and sexuality, and explore these in my teaching and research. My specialisms lie in twentieth century American history, with concentrations on the Cold War and interwar periods.

I teach both skills and content-led modules. In my time at CCCU, this has included: the Cold War; superheroes from 1938 to the present; the US from 1900-1945; Atlantic History from 1776-1900; Cold War cinema; Utopian thought; histories of horror. I have supervised postgraduate research students at MRes and PhD level and have also served as an internal examiner.

My recent research has focused on histories of the Gothic and the weird, with forthcoming publications on topics such as American weird fiction in the context of empire in the Caribbean, and David Bowie and the attempted education of normative desire in the 1980s. I am also interested in fandom and the structures that are generated around texts; my forthcoming co-edited volume on Joss Whedon explores some of these issues. I have written widely about gender, national identity, and trauma in comics, film, literature, and TV.

Research Projects

  • A Critical, Cultural History and Quasi-Ethnography of British Professional Wrestling. Researcher(s): Mr Dave Boyd. Supervisor(s): Professor Alan Meades, Professor Chris Pallant. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Androids and Electric People: A Study of Extropy, Transhumanism and Singularitarianism in Cyberpunk Cinema and Popular Culture. Researcher(s): Mr Jon Vass. Supervisor(s): Dr Andrew Butler, Dr Mitch Goodrum. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour: Analysing the Hopes and Fears of 1960s Britain Projected by the Supermarionation Series, from Supercar to Joe 90.. Researcher(s): Mr Paul Wilson. Supervisor(s): Dr Mitch Goodrum, Professor Kevin Ruane. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Class based study of female masculinity from first to second wave feminism. Researcher(s): Ms Jan Dunn. Supervisor(s): Dr Mitch Goodrum, Dr Dave Hitchcock, Professor Carolyn Oulton. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Doctoral Research Project. Researcher(s): Mr Jordan Newton. Supervisor(s): Dr Mitch Goodrum, Professor Kevin Ruane. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
  • How Does the Marvel Cinematic Universe Function as Reactive Storytelling?. Researcher(s): Mr Daniel Johnson. Supervisor(s): Dr Nicholas Furze, Dr Mitch Goodrum, Dr Andrew Butler. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • How to Make Comics the Successful Way – An investigation into the strategies for successful comic creators. Researcher(s): Mr William Hill. Supervisor(s): Dr Mitch Goodrum, Professor Chris Pallant. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
  • Intersectional Feminism in 21st Century Horror Cinema. Researcher(s): Miss Eleanor Piper. Supervisor(s): Dr Andrew Butler, Dr Magz Hall. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • She has a voice, let her speak: Exploring Interwar themes in relation to female experience. Researcher(s): Miss Holly Bringes. Supervisor(s): Dr Mitch Goodrum, Dr Andrew Palmer. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • The representation of ethnic minorities in superhero narratives across a range of media, with specific attention directed towards their historical and political context. Researcher(s): Mr Jake Blore. Supervisor(s): Dr Mitch Goodrum, Dr Gavan Lennon. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
  • Trans-Monstrous - How do horror films of the 2010s represent the feelings of dysphoria and other aspects of transgender culture, through the metaphors of possession and transformation and lead in creating the New Monstrous Trans Reading?. Researcher(s): Mr Ty Williamson. Supervisor(s): Dr Liz Samson, Dr Andrew Butler. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • Viscount Lymington: The Journey of a fascist 'Fellow Traveller'. Researcher(s): Mr Kian Aspinall. Supervisor(s): Dr John Bulaitis, Professor Kevin Ruane. [Postgraduate Research Project]
  • We’re not gonna take it: Trans-Atlantic Moral Panics From the 1950s to the 1980s, and their causes.. Researcher(s): Mr Christopher Heathwood. Supervisor(s): Dr David Budgen, Dr Mitch Goodrum. [Postgraduate Research Project]

I was co-convenor of the Oxford Comics Network, based at the University of Oxford, from 2018-2021. I am a Senior Fellow of the HEA and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. I am on the editorial board of Studies in Comics and the Journal of Graphic Novels & Comics and have reviewed articles and manuscripts for a number of other journals and publishers. I have also externally examined postgraduate research projects in my areas of expertise.

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Contact me

michael.goodrum@canterbury.ac.uk
01227921664
Thorne & Fynden (FYf05), Canterbury

Based in

Faculty of Arts Humanities and Education
School of Humanities and Educational Studies