eldritchhobbit

I'm tickled to share that I'll be presenting my paper "Strange Girls Now Missing: How Dark Academia Storytelling Revisits Historical Cold Cases" in the "History and Popular Uses of the Past" track at the 2026 annual conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA) online in October.

My half-hour talk "Star Wars and Resistance" is now on YouTube as part of the SPACE Showcase. My talk kicks in around 11 minutes into the Showcase.

This talk is a "sneak peek" into my new three-part online module for SPACE (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education) for Signum University in Spring 2026.

Watch on YouTube

Rebellions Are Built On Hope: A Star Wars Series

Over nearly half a century of storytelling, Star Wars has challenged audiences to find their own agency and power in the face of injustice and tyranny. The Star Wars works Andor (2022, 2025), Rogue One (2016), and A New Hope (1977) fit together to provide a story of resistance, resilience, and rebellion built on a deep engagement with history, philosophy, and political thought. Join Dr. Amy H. Sturgis as we consider how Star Wars wrestles with big ideas, invites conversation and action, and inspires hope in unprecedented times.

This SPACE series consists of three hybrid modules:

Module 1 (Feb. 2026) covers the series Andor, Season 1 (more info here);

Module 2 (March 2026) covers the series Andor, Season 2 (more info here); and

Module 3 (April 2026) covers the films Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (more info here).

I'm tickled to share that my paper "Star Trek’s Son of the Royal Navy: Malcolm Reed’s Subversive Voyage in Space, Then and Now" has been accepted for NavyCon 2025, a conference sponsored by the Center for International Maritime Security, King’s College, and the Naval War College. The theme is “The Influence of Navies on Science Fiction, NASA, and the Future of Space,” and the event will be held online on December 6. 🖖

Some of the university and conference talks I gave this year are now online.

“Missing Students & Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia" (presented at the Popular Culture Research Network’s “Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture” conference).
View this presentation here.

Why You Should Read The Last Man by Mary Shelley

Watch on YouTube

Why You Should Read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Watch on YouTube

"A Fortnight in the Wilderness" with Alexis de Tocqueville

Watch on YouTube

On December 1, 1946, sophomore Bennington College student Paula Jean Welden vanished. Her disappearance remains an unsolved mystery.

I'm currently working on a book project that involves the Welden case. Today it feels especially important to say her name.

Note: If anyone would like a (very brief!) peek into my current book project, here is a video of my presentation “Missing Students and Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia." I gave this talk earlier this year at the Popular Culture Research Network’s “Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture” conference.

This image of Paula Jean Welden (a black-and-white portrait of a young woman in her late teens) was circulated in missing person flyers and newspapers at the time of her disappearance in 1946. She is wearing a sweater with a collared shirt and necklace, sitting with one arm beside/behind her on the back of the sofa, regarding the photographer.

The Missing Person flyer circulated after Paula Welden's disappearance on December 1, 1946, including photos and a writing sample of hers, as well as descriptions of her and instructions on where to report information about her disappearance and/or whereabouts.

On November 18, 1897, junior student Bertha Lane Mellish vanished from Mount Holyoke College. Her disappearance remains an unsolved mystery.

I'm currently working on a book project that involves the Mellish case. Today it feels especially important to say her name.

Note: If anyone would like a (very brief!) peek into my current book project, here is a video of my presentation “Missing Students and Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia." I gave this talk earlier this year at the Popular Culture Research Network’s “Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture” conference.

Missing Person flyer offering a $500 reward for help finding missing student Bertha Lane Mellish. This broadside, which includes a portrait of Bertha Mellish, was posted December 10, 1897, during the search for missing Mount Holyoke College student.

The opening screen of the video for "Missing Students and Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia" by Amy H. Sturgis, with an image of a newspaper clipping from 1897 that reads "Missing from the College: Strange Disappearance of Miss Bertha Lane Mellish."

I’ll be presenting a paper (“Missing Students and Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia") at the Popular Culture Research Network’s “Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture” conference on May 2-3 (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). It’s wholly online and free to attend! More information is here.

I am very happy to report that I will be presenting my paper "Missing Students and Their Fictional Afterlives: True Crime, Crime Fiction, and Dark Academia" at the Guilty Pleasures: Examining Crime in Popular Culture conference (May 2-3, 2024) sponsored by the Popular Culture Research Network. This talk is related to my current work-in-progress book project. I’m looking forward to it!

Just a couple of quick updates!

First, I want to say a big "Thank you!" to Meg Dowell from Now This Is Lit and Eric Clayton from Dork Side of the Force for their wonderful reviews of our anthology Star Wars: Essays Exploring a Galaxy Far, Far Away!

Second, I'm delighted to say I'll be giving two presentations this autumn on Dark Academia topics at academic conferences. Both events have online options, and I hope to see some of you there!

* I'll be giving the talk “A Vanished Student Leaves a Haunted Space: An Unsolved Mystery and the Gothic Imagination on the Dark Academia Campus” at Perilous Realms and Haunted Spaces: New England Moot 2023 sponsored by Signum University in October.

* I'll be presenting the paper “Consumed by the Campus: Dark Academia, the Gothic Imagination, and the Missing Student" at the Consuming the Gothic Conference sponsored by Sheffield Gothic in November.

I’m delighted to share that I’ll be giving a paper at the upcoming Realizing Resistance Episode III: The Expanding Universe conference on Star Wars.

My talk will be “‘They Walked without Speaking’: GUARDIANS OF THE WHILLS, ANDOR, and Local Resistance."

More on the conference is here: dcsco-op.org/rriii/

Hello, everyone! Remember me? It's been a while. 2020 happened to me, as it's happened to all of us. But I'm still here. I hope you are safe and well, wherever you happen to be.

Today is the 100th birthday of Ray Bradbury!

In June, I spoke about the ongoing relevance of Bradbury and his work at the University of Louisville. Here is my talk: "Why Read Fahrenheit 451 in 2020?"

"Dr. Amy Sturgis on "Fahrenheit 451"" (Watch on Vimeo)

I am beyond delighted to be a featured speaker at Asheville Wordfest 2017: Ten Years of Multiculturalism at the Mic on April 18-23, 2017, speaking about world science fiction. If you're in beautiful Asheville, please do join me! And check out the amazing programming planned for the rest of the weekend!

Cool Things are Extremely Cool:

- Netflix Revives Western Longmire. Woohoo! I am one happy fangirl.

- The University of Iowa is digitizing 10,000 vintage sci-fi zines dating back to the 1930s. Fantastic!

- Three Calls for Papers of potential interest: 1) on Robert A. Heinlein, 2) on the Gothic and Racism, and 3) on "It's Happening Again": Twenty-Five Years of Twin Peaks.

- FX Is Making a Television Show Out of Alan Moore's From Hell.

- The latest episode of StarShipSofa is out - it's a jam-packed episode - and it includes my most recent "Looking Back on Genre History" segment, which celebrates the recent good news received by fans of The Pretender, Millennium, and Twin Peaks. You can download the episode via iTunes or stream/download it here.

Uncool Thing is Way Not Cool:

( Cut for TMI )

The takeaway here is that most of my Spring 2015 trips and appearances - my Asheville weekend seminars, SofaCON and ConCarolinas, and likely another university campus talk in the works - won't be affected by this turn of events, but I'm very disappointed to say that it looks like Mythmoot III in January is off the table. I'm quite bummed about this.

For now I'm on the road again. Have a great one, my friends!

Current Music: "Under Pressure," Queen & David Bowie

* I'm delighted to say it's official: I'll be giving an hour-long academic presentation on "Sherlock Holmes and Science Fiction" at Loncon 3: The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention in London this summer. (It's the perfect year for returning to London, as it's the 160th birthday of Mr. Holmes!) It looks like I'll be on some terrific panels, as well. I'll post my schedule when I know it.

* Speaking of Sherlock Holmes: "One Fixed Point: Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, and the British Imagination." (Thanks to

cookiefleck!)

* Check out the latest experience from StarShipSofa: The Sofanauts! You're invited! "Do you travel extensively to meet and hear the great creators of science fiction or wish that you could? Now you don’t have to do so! The Sofanauts will bring highly respected and sought-after guests directly to you for video talks and chats. Hear and interact with SF legends and rising stars from the comfort of your own home!"

Last but not least, here are several Calls for Papers that may be of interest:
* "Doctor Who: Twelfth Night" (book collection)
* "The Rocky Horror Picture Show Fan Phenomena" (book collection)
* "Sensationalism and the Genealogy of Modernity" (book collection)
* "New Approaches to the Jazz Age" (book collection)
* "Digital Games and Interactive Media" (journal special issue)
* "The Classical Canon and/as Transformative Work" (journal special issue)
* "Privacy and Dataveillance" (journal special issue)
* "Queens of Crime" (conference)

Current Music: "Hot Cha," They Might Be Giants

Did you miss SofaCON? Or would you like to relive it? Now you can see it after the fact!

This video includes, in order, the introduction by Peter Watts, my "Looking Back At Genre History" multimedia presentation (beginning at approximately 0:18:30 on the video), a reading by author Ted Kosmatka, my "One to One" interview with the great Lois McMaster Bujold (beginning at approximately 1:35:00), a reading by author Gregory Frost, a discussion of SF fandom by the gentlemen of Amazing Stories, the SF Quiz featuring SF Signal vs. Geeks Guide to the Galaxy (with questions/officiating by yours truly), the keynote talk by Peter Watts, and the conclusion by StarShipSofa's fearless leader, the incomparable Tony C. Smith. I do hope you enjoy it.

I had a splendid time participating in Joss in June: A Conference on the Works of Joss Whedon. It was a truly national event, with presenters from California to New York and everywhere in between, and a very well organized and attended one, to boot. The talks were consistently excellent, and in every session I attended, questions/answers and discussion continued well after the presentations. Two thumbs up! I returned with a couple of news items to share:

The Whedon Studies Association wants you! Here's the information: "We invite all Whedon scholars, whether writers or readers, to join the organization. Please send your name and email address to the WSA's secretary/treasurer Tanya Cochran at wsamembers@gmail.com. Those who enroll in the WSA will receive first notice of new issues of the journal; information about upcoming conferences; shared calls for papers for upcoming books; announcements of association meetings; and more. For anyone who can provide monetary assistance, $25.00 is the suggested contribution for those who are employed full-time; $10.00 is the suggested contribution for those employed less than full-time (presumably most students). However, we invite all devotees of Whedon scholarship to join the association, with or without financial contribution.

There's a new kid in town! The brand new Supernatural Studies Association (SSA) is an international organization dedicated to the study of representations of the supernatural in popular culture, including (but not limited to) film, television, literature, and art. Here is the Call for Papers for the inaugural issue of its multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal, Supernatural Studies.

On a personal note, tremendous and heartfelt thanks to all of my friends who have responded to my call for help in navigating the smartphone jungle. Your kindness has been most helpful and most appreciated! You're the best!

Happy early birthday to

lynn_maudlin,

morningapproach,

gods_lil_rocker,

bouncybabylemur,

splix,

divadiane1,

fungus_files,

markbourne,

sunshinedew,

knesinka_e,

ithildyn,

melissagay,

faramirgirl,

arymetore,

caster121,

syrcleoftrees,

ghislainem70,

johnjosephadams, and dear

agentxpndble. May all of you enjoy a wonderful one and many happy returns of the day!

And now for your moment of zen...

I have lots of links and news to share today!

* I've chosen my text assignments for the Fall 2013 semester. For my online graduate course "Sherlock, Science, and Ratiocination" for the Mythgard Institute, here is the list.
( Assigned Texts )

For my undergraduate/graduate cross-listed course "U.S. Exceptionalism: The American and the Frontier" for the Lenoir-Rhyne University, here is the list.
( Assigned Texts )

* A news story very much worth a listen/read: "Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl." "This is the story of a three-year-old girl and the highest court in the land. The Supreme Court case Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl is a legal battle that has entangled a biological father, a heart-broken couple, and the tragic history of Native American children taken from their families. When producer Tim Howard first read about this case, it struck him as a sad but seemingly straightforward custody dispute. But, as he started talking to lawyers and historians and the families involved in the case, it became clear that it was much more than that. Because Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl challenges parts of the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, this case puts one little girl at the center of a storm of legal intricacies, Native American tribal culture, and heart-wrenching personal stakes." Read/hear more here. (Thanks to

agentxpndble.)

* The Force is strong with the Navajo! "Translated Into Navajo, 'Star Wars' Will Be". (Thanks to

agentxpndble.)

* Speaking of Star Wars, Luke Burrage of The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast has made his own edit of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Here's the tagline: "No illogical dialogue. No annoying voices. No racist accents. All the best visuals. All the best music. An all new script.” Check out Star Wars, Episode I: The Silent Menace.

* On July 19, Midnight Syndicate will release its sixteenth studio album, Monsters of Legend. This "tribute to the golden age of horror" will feature sweeping symphonic horror instrumental music and sound effects in the signature style the band pioneered. "We want to make you feel like you are a character in one of those classic horror films - that you've entered a world where any one of the iconic characters from the Universal Horror and Hammer Films could be right around the corner," said composer Edward Douglas. Check out more information here.

Monsters of Legend cover for the Midnight Syndicate album

* A national conference on Whedonesque scholarship, Joss in June, is coming up on June 28. I'll be presenting a paper on Firefly/Serenity, and I hope to see some of you there!

* More than half of the tickets for SofaCON: An Online International Science Fiction Convention have sold. Be sure to get your tickets now before they're gone!

I hope you have a terrific day, my friends.

“I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children's stories. They were better than that. They just were.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Remember the Henry River Mill Village near my home, the one I've visited repeated and photographed and posted about, the one where District 12 of The Hunger Games was filmed? Official Hunger Games site tours begin there next month.

A revised/updated schedule for Potterwatch 2013 is available now.

In other news, registration is now open for my international and online Summer 2013 course "The Dystopian Tradition" with Mythgard Institute at Signum University. Everyone is welcome, including students who wish to take the class for masters credit and auditors who wish to take it for the love of the subject. More information is here.

Have a trailer!

* Hi there, everyone! Just a reminder, FYI: my Goodreads giveaway of the new Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy ends tomorrow.

* Random goodness: "15 Must-See Historic Cemeteries Across the United States."

* I now have my schedule for StellarCon 37 and SONAR: The Symposium on Nerdy Academic Research. (I'm really looking forward to the weekend, so I'm hoping my current feeling-under-the-weather-ness is very short-lived.)

Saturday, March 2
10am Panel: Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, and Power Rangers: A 20-Year Retrospective

2pm Panel: The Hobbit, Filler, and You

3pm Panel: The British Invasion (Sherlock and Doctor Who)

4pm SONAR Solo Presentation: "From Amerind to Dorvan: Star Trek's Uneasy History with Native America"

6pm Panel: Podcasting: How Does It Work?

Too Bad Georges Melies Never Directed A STAR TREK Episode

I'm a very happy height-challenged, mushroom-loving Middle-earther, as I've been invited to be a guest scholar at one of the most anticipated international Tolkien events currently in the works, A Long-Expected Party 3. I do hope to see some of you there!

Have you ever looked to the mountains and wondered what lay beyond - or even under them? Have you ever wanted to carry a sword instead of a walking stick? Then perhaps you are in need of an adventure. Take a trip to the Shire and live the adventure of a lifetime and create memories that can be retold around the fire for ages to come.

Find out more about A Long-Expected Party 3 here!

Current Music: "Princess Mee," Caprice

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Strange Girls Now Missing

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Paula Welden and the Missing Student

Bertha Mellish and the Missing Student

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Realizing Resistance conference on Star Wars

Why Read Fahrenheit 451 in 2020?

Asheville Wordfest!

So it goes.

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The SofaCON recording is here!

The Revolution Wasn't Jossed

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