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Christopher Olson

  • Fellow, English

Education

  • MA, Media and Cinema Studies, DePaul University, 2014
  • BA, Film Studies, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2006

Courses Taught

  • ENGLISH 101 - Introduction to College Writing
  • CAS 217 - Race and Communication (Dominican University, River Forest, IL)
  • CAS 286 - Masculinity and Communication (Dominican University, River Forest, IL)
  • CAS 336 - Cult Cinema (Dominican University, River Forest, IL)
  • LAS 432 - The Ethical Superhero (Dominican University, River Forest, IL)
  • Fine Arts 104 - The World of Cinema (Harry S. Truman College, Chicago, IL)
  • MST 3104: Playing Games (Governors State University, University Park, IL)

Research Interests

  • Cult cinema
  • Cult television
  • Professional wrestling
  • Masculinity studies
  • Transnational/transcultural cinema

Academic Awards

  • Chancellor’s Award, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, 2017
  • Fred E. H. Schroeder Paper Award, Midwest Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, 2016
  • Merit Scholarship, Media and Cinema Studies, DePaul University, 2013

Selected Publications

Olson, C. J. & Reinhard, C. D. (2019) 100 Greatest Cult TV Shows. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Olson, C. J. (2019) “‘An Unadulterated Cultural Expressway for the Arts’: Exploring the Theoretical Possibilities of byNWR.com.” The Popular Culture Studies Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, online.
Reinhard, C. D. & Olson, C. J. (Eds.) (2019). Convergent Wrestling: Participatory Culture, Transmedia Storytelling, and Intertextuality in the Squared Circle. New York, NY: Routledge.
Reinhard, C. D., Castleberry, G., Foy, M. & Olson, C. J. (2018). “Introduction: Why Professional Wrestling Studies Now? Legitimizing a Field of Interdisciplinary Study.” The Popular Culture Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, online.
Olson, C. J. (2018). “Twitter, Facebook, and Professional Wrestling: Indie Wrestler Perspectives on the Importance of Social Media.” The Popular Culture Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, online.
Olson, C. J. (2018). 100 Greatest Cult Films. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Reinhard, C. D. & Olson, C. J. (Eds.) (2017). Heroes, Heroines and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes in Children’s Entertainment Media. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books
Olson, C. J. (2016). “Shakespeare, Didgeridoos, and Samurai Cowboys: Remixing National and Cultural Identities in Sukiyaki Western Django.” The Popular Culture Studies Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1&2, online.
Olson, C. J. & Reinhard, C. D. (2016). Possessed Women, Haunted States: Cultural Tensions in Exorcism Films. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Reinhard, C. D. & Olson, C. J. (Eds.) (2016). Making Sense of Cinema: Empirical Studies into Film Spectators and Spectatorship. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing.

UWM Land Acknowledgement: We acknowledge in Milwaukee that we are on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present.   |   To learn more, visit the Electa Quinney Institute website.