Sinister Beauty, Unquiet Dreams: Charleston & the Caribbean Connection
July 2020
A short look into how the foodways, language, folklore, history, art, and architecture of Charleston, South Carolina, connect to the Caribbean, and how these connections shaped the region’s—and the nation’s—unique culture.
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Blind Hills and Tar Pits: The Swamps of Folklore in Toni Morrison’s Tar Baby
July 2020
By employing strands of existing and original folklore in the novel, Morrison depicts multiple ways in which her characters become trapped and freed, as well as how and whether they succeed in so freeing themselves.
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Behind the Mask: An Enneagram Analysis of the Star Wars Saga
January 2020
Each main character of the mythic Star Wars saga — from prequels, classic, and sequel trilogies, to spinoffs and television shows — considered through the wisdom system of the Enneagram.
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Inside the Walls: An Enneagram Analysis of Stranger Things
July 2019
Each main character of the hit Netflix series, considered through the wisdom system of the Enneagram. Originally published on RELEVANT magazine’s website.
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Turning the Wheel: An Enneagram Analysis of Lost
June 2019
Each main character of the aughts’ most celebrated television show, considered through the wisdom system of the Enneagram.
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Mark Twain and the Folklore of Day and Night
December 2018
A look at two parallel ways Twain uses folklore and superstition in his works, and what this split says about the author himself.
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The Yokai Roots of Pokémon
August 2018
Exploring the folklore behind some of Pikachu’s friends.
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‘Fighting the Long Defeat’: Nature and Grief in Tolkien and Anglo-Saxon Poetry
November 2017
A paper delivered at the 2017 Southeastern Medieval Association Conference at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, SC.
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Sorrow and Light: Reflections on Rewatching Lost
August 2015
A longform essay on one of the most polarizing television shows in recent history.
