Christensen, Kyle

Dr. Kyle Christensen joined the Huntingdon faculty in the fall of 2018. He primarily teaches courses in media, rhetoric, and introductory communication. His research focuses on representations of age, gender, sexuality, and race in film and media, with particular interest in horror and monster narratives.

PUBLICATIONS

Refereed Journal Articles

• Christensen, Kyle. “‘Look What You Did to Me!’: (Anti)Feminism and Extratextuality in the Remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010).” Journal of Film and Video 68.2 (2016): 29-45.
• Christensen, Kyle. “The Final Girl versus Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street: Proposing a Stronger Model of Feminism in Slasher Horror Cinema.” Studies in Popular Culture 34.1 (2011): 23-47.

Book Chapters

• Christensen, Kyle. “Slashing through the Bonds of Blood: Queer Family and Scream: The TV Series.” Horror Television in the Age of Consumption: Binging on Fear. Eds. Linda Belau and Kimberly Jackson. Routledge, 2018. 161-75.
• Christensen, Kyle. “‘Amelia’ and Trilogy of Terror: Mother-Daughter Identification and the Oscillation of the Abject-Matrophobic.” Reading Richard Matheson: A Critical Survey. Eds. Cheyenne Mathews and Janet V. Haedicke. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 129-42.

Creative Media Scholarship

• Christensen, Kyle. “Romero and the Horror of the Written Word.” In Media Res/MediaCommons. Oct. 25, 2017.

Book Reviews

• Christensen, Kyle. Review of Richard Nowell’s Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle. The Critical Lede (scholarly podcast). March 1, 2012.

Select Publications:

• Christensen, Kyle and Marina Levina. “Saving White Women: Vulnerability and the Immobilized Body in Don’t Breathe (2016).” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 19.3 (2022): 254-70.
• Christensen, Kyle. “Unmasking the Ageism of Whiteness during COVID-19.” Contribution to “Cultural Chronicles of COVID-19” forum in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 19.1 (2022): 15-21.
• Christensen, Kyle. “Drinking and Disappearing: Vampiric Orality and Age as Challenging the Youthful Male Gaze in Let Me In.” Women’s Studies in Communication 34.2 (2020): 202-24.
• Christensen, Kyle and Scarlett L. Hester. “The Horrors of White Male Innocence in IT (2017).”  Critical Studies in Media Communication 36.5 (2019): 495-512.
•  Christensen, Kyle. “A Dynasty of Screams: Jamie Lee Curtis and the Reinterpretation of the Maternal Voice in Scream Queens.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 36.3 (2019): 272-88.
• Christensen, Kyle. “Containing Voices of Memory: Lesbianism, Second-Wave Feminism, and the Queer Mnemonic Voice-Outtake in MAKERS: The Women Who Make America.” QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking 6.1 (2019): 48-71.
• Christensen, Kyle. “Slashing through the Bonds of Blood: Queer Family and Scream: The TV Series.” Horror Television in the Age of Consumption: Binging on Fear. Eds. Linda Belau and Kimberly Jackson. Routledge, 2018, 161-75.
• Christensen, Kyle. “‘Amelia’ and Trilogy of Terror: Mother-Daughter Identification and the Oscillation of the Abject-Matrophobic.” Reading Richard Matheson: A Critical Survey. Eds. Cheyenne Mathews and Janet V. Haedicke. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, 129-42.

PRESENTATIONS

Competitively Selected Conference Presentations

• Nov. 2017, Christensen, Kyle. “Putting Away Childish (Sounding) Things: Disciplining and De-Queering Voice through EVA and Exceptional Voice.” Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Dallas, Texas.
• Nov. 2017, Christensen, Kyle. “Slashing the Patriarchy, Together: Lesbian Feminism and Scream (1996).” Paper to be presented at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Dallas, Texas.
• July 2017, Christensen, Kyle. “Echoes and Absorptions: Gender, Race, Age, and Faciality in Ex Machina.” Paper presented at Console-ing Passions: The International Conference on Television, Video, Audio, New Media, and Feminism, Greenville, N.C.
• Nov. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Feminist Spatial In/Coherence and the Rape-Revenge Narrative of I Spit on Your Grave.” Paper presented at the National Communication Association Annual Convention, Philadelphia, Pa.
• Apr. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Choose Your Own Authority, or Remediating Feminist Voice in Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power & A World Without Rape.” Paper presented at the Southern States Communication Association Annual Convention, Austin, Texas.
  (Top Paper Panelist in Gender Studies Division)
• Sept. 2015, Christensen, Kyle. “Mediums of Memory: The Hauntings of Lesbianism and the Equal Rights Amendment in Makers: The Women Who Make America.” Paper presented at the Tennessee Communication Association Annual Conference, Burns, Tenn.
  (Top Graduate Student Paper)
• Apr. 2015, Christensen, Kyle. “Freaky Fri-Gay: Remembering Queer Identity in Crystal Lake Memories and the Friday the 13th Series.” Paper presented at the National Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, La.
• Oct. 2014, Christensen, Kyle. “Places of Hyperabjection in the Grand Slasher Finale and the Friday the 13th Series.” Paper presented at the Building Bridges Annual Graduate Conference at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Ill.
• Apr. 2013, Christensen, Kyle. “The Faux Final Girl and the Potentialities of Woman (Dis)Identification in the Slasher Film.” Paper presented as the Gender Matters Annual Conference, Chicago, Ill.
• Apr. 2010, Christensen, Kyle. “‘Sextext’: A Kinky Controversy in Communication.” Paper presented at the Annual Midwestern Conference on Language, Literature, and Media, DeKalb, Ill.

Poster Presentations

• Apr. 2015, Christensen, Kyle. “Phallic Parody in Slasher Horror Films.” Poster presented at the Annual Student Research Forum at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.

G.I.F.T.S. (Great Ideas for Teaching Speech) Presentations

• Sept. 2010 Christensen, Kyle. “Using Humor to Lecture on the Importance of Gender-Inclusive Language in Public Speaking.” Presentation at the Illinois Speech and Theater Association Annual Conference, Springfield, Ill.

Discussion Panels

• Mar. 2011, Christensen, Kyle, Julie Martin, et al. “Crossovers in Communication and Women’s/Gender Studies.” Panel discussion presented at the Wisconsin Women’s Studies Annual Conference and UW System LGBTQ Annual Conference, Madison, Wis.

Invited Lectures

• May 2012, Christensen, Kyle. “A Nightmare on Elm Street and Models of Feminism in Slasher Horror Films.” Visual Culture Theory course at Knox College, Galesburg, IL.

Guest Lectures

• Oct. 2017, Christensen, Kyle. “Representations of Gender and Reproduction in Science Fiction-Horror Films.” Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema course at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
• Dec. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Introduction to Feminist Theory.” Communication Theory course at Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Ark.
• Oct. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Supportive Communication and Communication Privacy Management.” Communication Inquiry course at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
• Oct. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Monstrosity and Sexuality.” Monster Films course at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
• Sept. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Monstrosity, Gender, and Slasher Horror.” Monster Films course at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
• Mar. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Intergenerational Womanhood in Film.” Women and Film course at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
• Feb. 2016, Christensen, Kyle. “Gender and Horror Films.” Women and Film course at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
• Oct. 2015, Christensen, Kyle. “Introduction to Slasher Horror Films.” Introduction to Film course at the University of Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
• Oct. 2011, Christensen, Kyle. “Feminist Criticism of Horror Films.” Communication Criticism course at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Ill.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Apr. 2016, Top Paper Panelist in the Gender Studies Division at the Southern States Communication Association Annual Convention
• Sept. 2015, Top Graduate Student Paper at the Tennessee Communication Association Annual Conference
• May 2015, Outstanding Graduate Research Award from the Department of Communication at the University of Memphis
• Apr. 2012, Paul K. Crawford Award for Outstanding Graduate Student from the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University
• May 2010, Wonders of Women’s Studies Achievement Award from the Department of Women’s Studies at Northern Illinois University