Sarah Chase Cosby and Brenda Tyrrell, MA graduate students in English, present at Midwest Popular Culture Association

CATEGORIES: Department News

In early October, Sarah Chase Crosby and Brenda Tyrrell presented papers at the Midwest Popular Culture Association annual conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. The papers were featured in a session focused on adaptations of popular fiction. Sarah’s paper, “Frozen’s Adaptation of Gendered Spaces: True Love’s Empowering Trend,” discussed the similarities between Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen and Frozen, as well as the effectiveness of Disney’s nuanced approach to true love and the strength of women. Brenda’s paper, “Eccentric Wallflowers: Stoker, Holmes, and Victorian Gender Constraints,” offered a critique of a steampunked, feminized adaptation of Sherlock Holmes and Bram Stoker to determine whether this adaptation was successful at empowering young adult women. The session was a huge success and Sarah and Brenda enjoyed the sights (and tastes!) of Cincinnati.