Kyle William Bishop

Chair and Professor of English Department

  • Cedar City UT UNITED STATES

Specializing in British Gothic literature, film and television studies, cinematic adaptation, and pop culture

Contact

Biography

Dr. Kyle William Bishop is a professor of English Southern Utah University. He began teaching at SUU in 2000, and is currently the Academic Coordinator of the Honors Program and teaches film and screen studies, American literature and culture, fantasy/horror literature, and English composition.

Known for his writing and research regarding popular culture and cinematic adaptation – particularly in the area of zombies – Dr. Bishop has published two monographs including “American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture,” and “How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture: The Multifarious Walking Dead in the 21st Century.” He co-edited a collection of essays on zombie literature titled, “The Written Dead: Essays on the Literary Zombie.” All three are available through McFarland & Co., Publishers.

Dr. Bishop graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in humanities, emphasis in art history, with minors in music, German, and English. At University of Utah, he earned a master’s degree in English: American studies with emphasis in film studies, and at University of Arizona, a Ph.D. in English. His dissertation addressing the cultural relevance of zombie cinema--composed under the guidance of Susan White, Jerrold Hogle, and Carlos Gallego--was published by McFarland & Co., Publishers as American Zombie Gothic in 2010. His follow-up book, How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture, was published in 2015.

Spotlight

2 min

Maintaining a Healthy Relationship With Fear - Why We Love Horror Films

With post-apocalyptic thrillers like Bird Box rising in popularity in the United States and around the world (according to Netflix, 45 million people streamed the film), we begin wondering what the appeal of these horror genre films is. Dr. Kyle William Bishop, assistant professor of English and academic coordinator of the Southern Utah University Honors Program, specializes in film and television studies in the areas of popular culture and cinematic adaptation and has a few thoughts on why we love to be scared:“One of the primary functions of art, particularly those that present an audience with a narrative, is to provide people with a cathartic experience, a way to feel proxy emotions such as excitement, love, and fear. The latter has long been a vital emotion in terms of human development and, even, survival.”Dr. Bishop goes on to explain that as a species, we need to maintain a healthy relationship and familiarity with fear, but many real-world experiences that encourage such psychological and physiological responses are potentially dangerous.“Instead, art forms such as horror movies, television shows, and video games can provide people with the same responses but in a safe, simulated fashion. Many people are thus drawn to the genre of horror: it gives them an adrenaline rush, provides an exhilarating emotional experience, and exorcizes repressed fears and anxieties through simulated scenario exploration. In addition, such experiences can be fun!”Known for his writing and research regarding popular culture and cinematic adaptation, particularly in the area of zombies. Dr. Bishop has published two monographs including “American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture,” and “How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture: The Multifarious Walking Dead in the 21st Century.” He co-edited a collection of essays on zombie literature titled, “The Written Dead: Essays on the Literary Zombie.” Dr. Bishop is familiar with the media and available for an interview. Simply visit his profile.Learn more: 

Kyle William Bishop

2 min

A Must-Read this Summer - It Needs to Look Like we Tried

Everyone has a dream, an idea, a goal. But what happens when those desires are thwarted, when dreams and goals fall apart? In his new novel, It Needs to Look Like We Tried, Dr. Todd Robert Petersen, Director of Project-Based Learning at Southern Utah University, explores the ways in which our failures work on the lives of others, weaving an intricate web of interconnected stories.The novel follows a fastidious man that takes a detour on the way to his father’s wedding, kicking off a series of events that ricochets from the bride to her real estate clients; to a crazed former homeowner and his sister-in-law’s reality TV lover; to a hoarding family whose lives are wrecked by their appearance on the second-rate show. “I would say that the book is about failure and life-changing events,” said Dr. Petersen. “But I should add that it’s also a comedic book.”Dr. Petersen has been writing seriously for roughly 25 years. He published poems and stories in the early 2000s and sold his first book, Long After Dark, in 2007. His next novel, Rift, was released in 2009. Petersen already has plans for his fourth book, Picnic in the Ruins, which is set for release in Spring of 2020.Dr. Kyle Bishop, Associate Professor of English and Honors Program Academic Coordinator at Southern Utah University thinks everyone should be reading It Needs to Look Like We Tried this summer. “It's the latest novel from an SUU faculty member, and it is already generating a lot of critical buzz and praise. He uniquely presents a number of interlinked short stories about unusual people in extraordinary situations.”Dr. Todd Petersen has worked as a YMCA assistant program director, literary journal editor, and English professor. Currently, he serves as director of an award-winning experiential learning program at Southern Utah University. He is familiar with the media and available for an interview. Simply visit his profile.Source:

Kyle William BishopTodd Robert Petersen

Social

Industry Expertise

Writing and Editing
Motion Pictures and Film
Fine Art
Education/Learning
Media - Print
Music

Areas of Expertise

Video Games
Visual Literacy
Saxophone
American Studies
Music
Composition
American Literature
Film and Television Studies
British Gothic Literature
Film Studies
Zombie Literature

Education

University of Arizona

Ph.D.

English

2009

University of Utah

M.A.

English

2000

Brigham Young University

B.A.

Humanities

1998

Accomplishments

Distinguished Scholarly/Creative Activity Awards

Southern Utah University, 2018

Best Scholar Award

Southern Utah University English Department, 2016

Best Teacher Award

Southern Utah University English Department, 2015

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Affiliations

  • International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts

Languages

  • German

Media Appearances

Don’t watch ‘I Am Legend’ right now

Desert News  online

2021-03-26

“On some level, we have to use fiction to explore the anxieties and fears that we have,” Kyle Bishop, a professor of English at Southern Utah University, told the Deseret News. “So, in that way, fiction functions similarly to a science lab — which is, let’s put these things into motion and let’s see what happens.”

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(Why) Is Rural America Scarier than Urban America? Experts Weigh in

Point 2  online

2020-10-29

"In the past decades, we noticed more and more horror films seem to take place in rural locations or in small towns. Since we don’t know why that might happen, we reached out in search for answers to Professor Kyle Bishop from Southern Utah University."

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Unpacking "Abducted In Plain Sight"

Radiowest  online

2019-04-03

Have you seen Abducted in Plain Sight?? The Netflix documentary is about a young girl who was abducted -- twice -- by the same family friend in the 1970s in Pocatello. It’s been getting a lot of buzz because the story is just so crazy. If you haven’t watched it yet, you should before our conversation on Wednesday. We’ll be joined by KUER religion podcaster Lee Hale, Utah county prosecutor Lauren Hunt, and SUU film professor Kyle Bishop to talk about just what the heck was going on.

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Articles

The Threat of the Gothic Patriarchy in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

The Rocky Mountain Review

2011

Most scholars focus on the ambiguous meaning of the birds in Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds, but this avian threat is little more than a MacGuffin, a catalyst used to further the film's real narrative. Rather than being a supernatural thriller, The Birds actually represents a dark exploration of the modern American Gothic: although the birds indeed prove a physical danger to Melanie's safety ...

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Dead Man Still Walking: Explaining the Zombie Renaissance.

Journal of Popular Film and Television

2010

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, zombie movies have become more popular than ever, with multiple remakes, parodies, and sequels. This renaissance of the subgenre reveals a connection between zombie cinema and post-9/11 cultural consciousness. Horror films function as barometers of society's anxieties, and zombie movies represent the inescapable realities of ...

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The Idle Proletariat: Dawn of the Dead, Consumer Ideology, and the Loss of Productive Labor.

The Journal of Popular Culture

2010

George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), the four protagonists who have been fleeing the chaos of Philadelphia by helicopter come across an abandoned shopping mall. The large structure is strangely isolated from the rest of civilization, surrounded by the buffer of
an empty parking lot populated by a scattering of slowmoving zombies. Needing a place to stop, eat, and rest, the four land on the roof...

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Courses

HONR 1040 Foundations of Honors

Students are introduced to and explore the fundamental skill-sets required to succeed as students at Southern Utah University and in the SUU Honors Program by developing an understanding of the complete student experience at college and the interdisciplinary nature of an Honors education. The class emphasizes seminar-style discussions and teamwork, develop students’ critical thinking and problem solving skills, and explore issues related to holistic student heath and well being. This one-credit seminar course is required of all new Honors students.

HONR 2010 Interdisciplinary Topics

Students study a specific topic or theme. Communication and general analytical skills are stressed. Students will attend selected Convocation presentations. An interdisciplinary faculty team will teach the course. The course may be repeated for credit.

HONR 2040 Honors Inquiry and Analysis

Students engage in learning activities to develop the critical thinking, problem solving, and research skill-sets necessary to investigate complex interdisciplinary questions and problems thoroughly. Working closely with colleagues from different academic disciplines, students hone their abilities to inquire, analyze, and work as a team and to lay the methodological groundwork required for scholarly projects that extend beyond the confines of a single semester.

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