Adam McLain’s CV
Education
University of Connecticut
PhD in English, expected May 2029
Concentration: 20th and 21st Century American Literature
Graduate Certificates: American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
JD, expected May 2028.
MA in English, May 2024.
Harvard University
Master of Theological Studies, May 2020
Area of focus: Women, gender, sexuality, and religion
Brigham Young University
Bachelor of Arts, August 2017
Major: English literature; Minors: Communications, editing, and women’s studies
University Honors, Cum Laude
Certifications and Trainings
Certificate in Data Science, Harvard EdX, expected 2024.
Publications
Articles, Essays, and Reviews
2024
“The Memoir and the Shelf,” Review of Bad Mormon by Heather Gay and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 57 (2024): forthcoming.
2023
Review of Equipping Space Cadets: Primary Science Fiction for Young Children, The Lion and the Unicorn 47, no. 2 (2023): 193–195.
Review of Twilight Tales, edited by Joe Monson and Jaleta Clegg, Dawning of a Brighter Day, Association for Mormon Letters, August 2023.
Review of Virginia Sorensen: Pioneering Mormon Author by Stephen Carter, Dawning of a Brighter Day, Association for Mormon Letters, August 2023.
Review of Vengeance Is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and Its Aftermaths by Richard Turley, Jr. and Barbara Jones Brown, Dawning of a Brighter Day, Association for Mormon Letters, June 2023.
Review of Machines for Making Gods: Mormonism, Transhumanism, and Worlds Without End by Jon Bialecki, Reading Religion, American Academy of Religions, January 2023.
2022
“Queerness Is Mormonism Is Queerness,” Review of Queer Mormon Theology by Blaire Ostler, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 55, no. 4 (2022): 193–195.
Review of Remainders of the American Century: Post-Apocalyptic Novels in the Age of US Decline by Brent Ryan Bellamy, Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research 9, no. 2 (2022): 218–222.
Review of August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White, Ancillary Review of Books, December 2022.
Review of Youth and Child Agency in Science Fiction, SFRA Review 52, no. 4 (2022): 90–92.
Review of A Dragon and Her Girl, edited by Joe Monson and Jaleta Clegg, Dawning of a Brighter Day, Association for Mormon Letters, October 2022.
“Introduction to Sexual Violence and Science Fiction Symposium,” SFRA Review 52, no. 3 (2022): 115–117.
Review of Dragon Soup for the Soul by Emily Martha Sorensen, Dawning of a Brighter Day, Association for Mormon Letters, August 2022.
Review of Trace the Stars, edited by Joe Monson and Jaleta Clegg, Dawning of a Brighter Day, Association for Mormon Letters, July 2022.
Review of Invoking Hope: Theory and Utopia in Dark Times by Phillip E. Wegner, SFRA Review 52, no. 2 (2022): 101–103.
Review of Destined for the Stars: Faith, the Future, and America’s Final Frontier by Catherine L. Newell, American Academy of Religions, Reading Religion, April 2022.
Review of The Cambridge Companion to Nineteen Eighty-Four, edited by Nathan Waddell, Fantasy/Animation, 4 March 2022.
“My Body, My Data: Orwell, Social Media, and #MeToo,” SFRA Review 52, no. 1 (2022): 146–154.
Review of Tolkien’s Cosmology: Divine Being and Middle-Earth by Sam McBride, SFRA Review 52, no. 1 (2022): 239–240.
Review of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 7, SFRA Review 52, no. 1 (2022): 290–292.
2021
Review of Steampunk: Gender, Subculture, and the Neo-Victorian, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 2021.
“A Critical Introduction to Latter-day Saint Speculative Fiction,” SFRA Review 51, no. 3 (2021): 108–120.
Review of Utopian and Dystopian Themes in Tolkien’s Legendarium, Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research 8, no. 1 (2021): 41–44.
Review of Docile by K. M. Szpara, SFRA Review 51, no. 2 (Spring 2021): 260–261.
Review of Make Yourselves Gods by Peter Coviello, American Academy of Religions, Reading Religion, April 2021.
Review of Apocalypse Nyx by Kameron Hurley, SFRA Review 51, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 211–212.
Review of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, seasons 1-5 (2020, TV series), SFRA Review 51, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 225–227.
2020
“The Tapestry of Mormonism, Woven Larger,” Review of The Women’s Book of Mormon by Mette Harrison, Dialogue 53, no. 4 (2020): 174–178.
Review of Is He Nuts?: Why a Gay Man Would Become a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ, Dawning of a Brighter Day, Association of Mormon Letters, March 2020.
2019
Review: Gay Rights and the Mormon Church: Intended Actions, Unintended Consequences, CLGBTH Newsletter 33, no. 2 (Fall 2019): 10–12.
“Fucking and Copulating: Narrative Authority and Systemic Oppression in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season,” SFRA Review no. 330 (Fall 2019): 134–141.
Review: Political Advocacy and Its Interested Citizens: Neoliberalism, Postpluralism, and LGBT Organizations, CLGBTH Newsletter 33, no. 1 (Spring 2019): 6–8.
Fiction and Poetry
2024
“Sacred Grove, Shadowed Grove,” Long-listed for 2024 Mormon Lit Blitz.
2022
“Paradisiacal Locust,” ARCH-HIVE Blog, June 2022.
2016
“The Swords’ Feast,” Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 67 3/4, 2016.
Conferences
Presentations, Papers, Posters
2024
“Asimov’s Guide to an Ethical Approach to Artificial Intelligence,” University of Connecticut Conference on the Teaching of Writing, Storrs, CT, April 2024.
2023
“The Utopian Classroom and Dystopian Distractions in the Transgressive, Erotic Pedagogy of bell hooks,” Society for Utopian Studies, Austin, TX, November 2023.
“‘Resonant and Inevitable, Like the Dull Toll of an Iron Bell’: American Decline, the Memory of History, and the Quest for the Future in Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe.” Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association, Philadelphia, PA, November 2023.
“‘Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death’: Approaching Zion through Utopia and Dystopia,” Faith and Knowledge Conference, Claremont, CA, May 2023.
“Toward an Anti-Dystopian Pedagogy: Utopian Theory in the Classroom,” University of Connecticut Conference on the Teaching of Writing, Storrs, CT, April 2023.
“Teaching Linguistic Justice as a Professional Copyeditor,” Arizona State University Composition Conference, Online, February 2023.
2022
“‘Only an Echo’: The Archive of Memory and the Memory of the Archive in Lois Lowry’s The Giver,” 7th Annual City Tech Science Fiction Symposium, Online, December 2022.
“The Once and Future Queer: LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Separatism, Reductivism, and Narrative Theory in Once & Future and Sword in the Stars,” Once and Future Fantasties, University of Glasgow, July 2022; accepted but couldn’t present.
“Faithfully Living, Fictionally Portraying: The Struggle for Gay Latter-day Saint (Literary) Identity),” Mormon History Association, June 2022.
2021
“My Body, My Data: Orwell, Social Media, and #MeToo,” London Science Fiction Research Community, London, UK, Online, September 2021.
“‘Ever In Your Favor’: Sacrifice and Just War in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games Trilogy,” Science Fiction Research Association, Conference Paper, Toronto, Ontario, CA, Online, June 2021.
“‘Seek for the Things of a Better’: Gendered Representation in Mormon Studies, 1966–2009,” Mormon History Association Conference, Poster, Park City, UT, June 2021.
“The Mother’s Presence, the Son’s Obedience: Margery Kempe’s Marriage to John Kempe and Jesus Christ as Queer Foil,” International Congress on Medieval Studies, Conference Paper, Kalamazoo, MI, Online, May 2021.
“‘I am a stick!’: Manifestation, Possibility, and Discognition in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere,” American Comparative Literature Association, Conference Poster, Online, April 2021.
“Theopocene: Deity, Humanity, and Climate Crisis in Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere,” International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts,” Conference Paper, Orlando, FL, Online, March 2021.
“A Critical Introduction to Latter-day Saint Speculative Fiction,” Life, the Universe, and Everything, Conference Paper, Provo, UT, Online, February 2021.
2020
“Quest for a Christianized Identity: American Arthur, Edwin Austin Abbey, and the Transatlantic Crusader Legacy,” Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, Conference Paper, London, UK, accepted but not presented due to COVID-19.
“The Once and Future Queer: LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Separatism, Reductivism, and Narrative Theory in Once & Future and Sword in the Stars,” The Middle Ages in the Modern World, Conference Paper ,London, UK, accepted but not presented due to COVID-19.
“‘For Silence Relieves Anxiety’: Gender, Fluidity, and Voice in La Roman de Silence,” Women’s Voices of the MIddle Ages and Renaissance, Conference Paper, Provo, UT, accepted but not presented due to COVID-19.
2019
“Visualizing Gendered Voice in Astounding and Analog,” 4th Annual City Tech Science Fiction Symposium, Conference Paper, New York City, NY, December, 2019.
“‘With a Clamor of Bells’: Societal Consent and the #MeToo Movement in Ursula K. Le Guin’s ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,’” Society for Utopian Studies, Conference Paper, East Lansing, MI, October 2019.
“‘I Volunteer As Tribute’: Consent, Dissent, and Kindness in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games,” National Science Fiction Association, Conference Paper, Layton, UT, July 2019.
“Fucking and Copulating: Narrative Authority and Systemic Oppression in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season,” Science Fiction Research Association, Conference Paper, Honolulu, HI, June 2019.
“The (Re-)invention of Silence: Agency, Power, and Genderqueerness in Le Roman de Silence,” International Congress on Medieval Studies, Conference Paper, Kalamazoo, MI, May 2019.
“What She Gained, What She Lost: An Analysis of Offred’s Consent and the Commander’s Rape in The Handmaid’s Tale,” Life, the Universe, and Everything, Conference Paper, Provo, UT, February 2019.
2018
“‘No, you have not rightly read your Bible’: Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Rhetorical Repudiation of John Milton’s Eve and Her Effects on Protestant America,” Society for the Study of American Women’s Writers Triennial Conference, Conference Paper, Denver, CO, November 2018.
2017
“Feminism and the Four Nations: A Feminist Analysis of the Societies in Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Life, the Universe, and Everything, Conference, Paper, Provo, UT, February 2017.
Pedagogy
Teaching
2024–2025
WGSS 1105, Gender and Sexuality in Everyday Life, 4 sections, Teaching Assistant.
2023–2024
UNIV 1800, First-Year Experience, 1 section, Instructor of Record.
2022–2023
ENGL 1007, Seminar and Studio in Academic Writing and Multimodal Composition, Topic: Education and Justice, 5 sections, Instructor of Record.
Invited Lectures
2024
“Editing Style Manuals,” ENGL 5160: Professional Development, University of Connecticut, Invited Lecture, April 2024.
2022
“What Is Prophecy?” Dialogue Gospel Study, Invited lecture, 23 October 2022.
“The Gendered Voice Project: An Introduction,” University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, October 2022, Invited lecture.
2018
“Mormonism and Feminism: An Introduction,” Anthropology of Mormonism, Invited Lecture, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, March 2018.
Public Discourse
Op-Eds, Panels, Podcasts, Interviews, Presentation
2022
“Editing for Audience,” Life, the Universe, and Everything, Panel, 19 February 2022.
“Punctuation,” Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium, Panel, 18 February 2022.
“Twenty-Second–Century Classics,” Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium, Panel, Moderator, 18 February 2022.
“Charlemagne in King Arthur’s Court,” Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium, Panel, 18 February 2022.
“Diversity Retconning,” Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium, Panel, Moderator, 17 February 2022.
Interview: Tamarra Kennedy, “Queer Latter-day Saints wonder: Can I date and still be in good standing? And if so, how?,” Salt Lake Tribune, 9 Jan 2022.
2021
“The Best of 2020—Creative Nonfiction and Poetry,” Dialogue Book Report 10, Podcast, 29 April 2021.
“Fifty More Shades of Nay: Consent for SF Characters and Consumers,” International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts, Panel, Orlando, FL, Online, March 2021.
2020
“Recent Books on LGBTQ Issues and Mormonism,” Dialogue Book Report 4, Podcast, 17 July 2020.
2019
“The LDS Church Should Get Out of Utah Politics,” Salt Lake Tribune, Opinion, 17 October 2019.
“Created Religions,” National Science Fiction Association, Panel, Layton, UT, July 2019.
“Pronouns in Science Fiction,” National Science Fiction Association Panel, Layton, UT, July 2019.
“Making Space for LGBTQ+ Latter-day Saints,” Second Sunday Group, Presentation, Cambridge, MA, April 2019.
“Fifty Shades of Nay: Consent for SF/F Characters and Consumers,” International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts, Conference Panel, Orlando, FL, March 2019.
2018
“The Sad Case of the Dueling ‘Deadpool’ Petitions,” Salt Lake Tribune, Opinion, 16 December 2018.
Fellowships and Research Assistantships
Jorgenson Fellow, University of Connecticut, September 2022–May 2027
Frank Knox Traveling Fellow, Harvard University, September 2021–June 2022
May-Crane Fellow, Harvard University Archive, February 2019–July 2019
Research Assistant, Harvard Women’s Studies in Religion Program, February 2019–July 2019
Research Assistant, Latter-day Saint Insights, April 2015–August 2015
Editorial Work
Editor, BCC Press, July 2022–Present.
Editor, Ancillary Review of Books, December 2021–December 2023.
Assistant Web Editor, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, November 2020–2024.
Guest Editor, SFRA Review, Symposium: Sexual Violence and Science Fiction, October 2021–August 2022.
Guest Editor, SFRA Review, Symposium: Mormonism and SF, August 2020–August 2021.
Editorial Assistant, Harvard Library Bulletin, January 2020–August 2020.
Editor-at-Large, periphery: a journal of word and image, June 2018–April 2019.
Editor-in-Chief, AWE: A Woman’s Experience, January 2017–August 2017.
Editorial Intern, Joseph Smith Papers Project, February 2016–May 2017.
Senior Editor, Schwa: Language and Linguistics, February 2016–May 2017.
Managing Editor, Leading Edge Magazine, August 2014–April 2017.
Managing Editor, Stowaway Magazine, April 2015–December 2015.
Acquisitions Editor, Leading Edge Magazine, October 2013–August 2014.
Edited Publications
2022
Symposium: Sexual Violence and Science Fiction, SFRA Review 52, no. 3.
2021
Symposium: Mormonism and SF, SFRA Review 51, no. 3.
Finalist in the 2021 Association for Mormon Letter Award in Criticism
2019
periphery: a journal of word and image, Issue 2.
2017
AWE: A Woman’s Experience, Volume 4.
Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 70.
2016
Stowaway Magazine, Spring 2016.
Stowaway Magazine, Winter 2016.
Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 69.
Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 68.
2015
Leading Edge Magazine, Special Edition, Issue 67 3/4.
Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 67.
Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 66.
2014
Leading Edge Magazine, Issue 65.
Service
Awards Committee, Mythopoeic Society, 2024.
Aetna First-Year Writing Award Committee, University of Connecticut, 2024.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, University of Connecticut, 2023–2024.
Aetna Chair of Writing Committee, University of Connecticut, 2023–2024.
Awards Committee, Mythopoeic Society, 2023.
Short Fiction Judge, Association for Mormon Letters Awards, 2022–2023.
Religious Nonfiction Judge, Association for Mormon Letters Awards, 2021–2022.
Creative Nonfiction Judge, Association for Mormon Letters Awards, 2020–2021.
Pitch and Critique Sessions Organizer, Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium, February 2016–February 2017.
Social Media and Marketing Manager, Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium, August 2015–February 2017.
Employment
University of Connecticut, Early College Experience English Program Assistant, 2023–2024.
The Dialogue Foundation, Media Manager, Assistant Web Editor, November 2020–2024.
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Special Collections Assistant, September 2019–November 2020.
Monroe C. Gutman Library, Circulation Assistant, July 2019–May 2020.
Houghton Library, Collections Assistant, July 2019–January 2020.
Nelson Labs, Report Specialist, October 2017–May 2018.
The Joseph Smith Papers Project, Editorial Intern, February 2016–May 2017.
Laycock Center for Creative Collaboration, Account Manager, September 2015–January 2016.
BYU Human Resource Development, Editorial Assistant, August 2014–September 2015.