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Michaela Flaherty

Doctoral Student
Graduate Teaching Fellow
Phone:
Office:
City: Eugene
Research Interests: fandom, film and television, gender and sexuality, popular culture, themed entertainment

Biography

Michaela is a second-year PhD student who examines popular culture media experiences. She is especially passionate about online fan spaces and themed restaurants. Recently, she has written about the adaptation of fanfiction into romance novels and the cultural techniques of theme park food. 

Outside the SOJC, she is pursuing the advanced graduate teaching certificate, folklore and public culture specialization, and the new media and culture certificate. 

Michaela grew up on the Connecticut shoreline. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2022 with BAs in English and political science and a minor in film studies. She then graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2023 with an MSc in intermediality: literature, film, and the arts in dialogue.  

Post-graduation, Michaela is excited to pursue a career in academia as a professor. Prior to enrolling at the University of Oregon, she was an adjunct instructor in English at the University of Saint Joseph. 

In her free time, Michaela loves watching films and logging said films on Letterboxd. 

Education

MSc in Intermediality: Literature, Film, and the Arts in Dialogue from the University of Edinburgh, 2023 

  • Dissertation: "Books Down and Chef's Hats On: Applying an Audience-Centric Media of Attraction Framework to Spectacular Ratatouille (2007) Adaptations" 

BA in English from the University of Connecticut, 2022 

  • Honors thesis: "'And We're Happy, So Happy, to Be Modern Women': Dissociative Feminism on Screen and in Literature" 

BA in Political Science from the University of Connecticut, 2022 

Teaching

University of Oregon, 2024–present 

  • JCOM 203: Writing as Practice
  • JCOM 301: Gender, Media, and Diversity 

University of Saint Joseph, 2023–24 

  • ENGL 104: The Art of Effective Writing I
  • ENGL 235: Women Writers