Faculty Present Paper at Meeting of Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association South

Professors Mark O’Dekirk (Psychology) and Steven Benko (Religious and Ethical Studies) presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association South. Their paper, “Live, Learn, Die, Repeat,” focused on the psychological and ethical dimensions of movies and television shows that depict characters stuck in a time loop (Groundhog Day, Edge of Tomorrow, Happy Death Day, Russian Doll, and The Good Place). Also, Benko presented a paper on the intersection of Levinasian ethics with The Good Place. His paper, titled “The Good Other” will be included in a forthcoming volume on The Good Place and philosophy. While there, Dr. Benko’s summer research students, Ellie Jones and Bailey Birtchet, presented on the rhetoric and use of anger as an appropriate perspective for social critique and change. Their research focused on the intersection of anger in political action and art.