Popular Culture Association Conference

This past April, DHP students Gloria Mendez, Chetana Movva, and Cassandra Stevens presented individual papers at the Popular Culture Association Conference (PCA) in New Orleans. PCA’s large national conference hosts over 1500 presenters annually, promoting the study of popular culture while showcasing a wide range of interdisciplinary research. Gloria, Chetana, and Cassandra are all English majors, and they presented their scholarly work on panels alongside graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and university faculty. They were sponsored at PCA by Dr. Aileen Miyuki Farrar, Associate Professor of Literature, and Dr. Yair Solan, Assistant Professor of Literature and Film, and had their professional development supported by the Department of Humanities & Politics Scholar Fund.

Gloria is an English major graduating in May 2025 and presented on the “Science Fiction and Fantasy: Moods, Emotions, and Mental Health” panel. Gloria’s paper, “The Bespoke Psychopath: Examining Potential Origins of River Song’s Madness,” explored the representation of psychopathy and gender in Doctor Who.

Gloria Mendez

Chetana is a double major in English and Biology and presented on the “Disasters and Apocalypses” panel. Chetana’s paper, “A Reflection on Human Nature through The Decameron: Have We Changed for Good?”, discussed Boccaccio’s The Decameron as well as the Covid-era Decameron Project and articulated the value of the humanities for understanding human responses to global disease.

Chetana Movva

Cassandra is a double major in English and English Education and presented on the panel “American Literature: The Power of the Written Word.” Cassandra’s paper, “The Trifles of Women,” examined Susan Glaspell’s classic 1916 play Trifles within the context of its broader media culture and the discourse of women’s rights.

Cassandra Stevens

The presentations were based on these students' particular academic interests and on research they developed in their courses. Dr. Solan praised their work at PCA: “While new to scholarly conferences, Gloria, Chetana, and Cassandra presented with such ease and nuance, and they were all adept at fielding questions from the audience during their Q&As. Their fellow panelists were clearly impressed, and the department is very proud of them for representing us so well at PCA.” In addition to sharing their research, the students attended panels on an assortment of popular culture topics and toured the New Orleans French Quarter.

PCA Group