Popular Culture and History

I am interested in how popular culture, particularly television and film media, intersects with history. My first explorations in this area deal with science fiction and environmentalism.

Publications

“A Blueprint for Destruction: Eco-activism in Doctor Who during the 1970s”

Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment 3, no. 2 (2012):[online] Open access (free registration required)

Abstract: This article analyzes the television science-fiction show Doctor Who as a cultural forum within the context of British eco-activism of the 1970s. It examines four serials which aired during the 1970s during the first wave of eco-activism in the UK: "The Green Death" (1973), "The Invasion of the Dinosaurs" (1974), "The Seeds of Doom" (1976), and "Nightmare of Eden" (1979). Two environmentalist concerns-pollution and species conservation-put forward by the early British eco-activist movement as underscored in texts such as The Blueprint for Survival from 1972 are evident in these serials. While affirming the validity of some elements of environmentalist concerns, each serial also proposes that the ends do not always justify the means. The Doctor, although a supporter of eco-activism, rejects seemingly utopian approaches to reset the Earth's ecosystems. Rather than presenting viewers with a guide to sustainability, these Doctor Who serials offer dystopian visions of future realities steeped in ecological transgressions – these are the blueprints for destruction.

"Who’s the devil? Species extinction and environmentalist thought in Star Trek"

In Star Trek and History, ed. N. Reagin. New York: Wiley & Sons, 2013, 242-259. Buy the book or pdf of my article from Kindle edition

During the last decades of the 20th century, the environmentalist movement came of age. As it developed into a mass movement, it gradually changed its arguments and strategies for persuading the public that endangered species were worth saving. Although depicting a universe two hundred years (and more) into the future, the environmentalism exhibited in Star Trek reflects these changes. This article looks at species extinction as an evolving complex problem over the course of Star Trek's history, including the episodes "The Man Trap" and "Devil in the Dark" from the original Star Trek television show of the 1960s, the movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and the episode "New Ground" from The Next Generation of the 1990s. I argue that how the Enterprise and its crew interacted with newly discovered creatures on faraway planets and how humans had affected Earth’s animals back home were vital elements of Star Trek’s evolving environmental message. Humans might be the devils destroying life, but they might also be its saviours.