The Worlds of Amy H. Sturgis

Teaching by AHS

GRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT FOR SIGNUM UNIVERSITY, 2012-Present

AHS (with Mary Shelley) prior to Signum University’s M.A. graduation ceremony in 2024. Photo by AHS.
  • Dark Academia
  • Exploring Star Trek
  • The Meaning of Star Wars
  • The Force of Star Wars: Examining the Epic
  • The Gothic Tradition
  • Sherlock, Science, and Ratiocination
  • The Dystopian Tradition
  • Science Fiction, Part 1: From Modern Beginnings to the Golden Age
  • Science Fiction, Part 2: From the New Wave through Today
  • “Literary Copernicus”: The Cosmic Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft
  • Taking Harry Seriously: The Artistry and Meanings of the Harry Potter Saga

ADULT CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES TAUGHT FOR SIGNUM UNIVERSITY’S SPACE AND EVERLEARN PROGRAMS, 2023-Present

  • Meet Mary Shelley’s The Last Man
  • Haunting Tales: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
  • Haunting Tales: A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
  • The Hunger Games Series (Trilogy and Prequels) by Suzanne Collins
  • “Rebellions Are Built On Hope”: A Star Wars Series (Including Andor, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
  • Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson: Exploring a Gothic Campus Mystery
  • Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh: Discovering a Turning Point in Crime Fiction
  • The Secret History by Donna Tartt: Unpacking the “Whydunit” Mystery
AHS giving a guest lecture at Princeton University in 2003. Drawing by Mira Blake.

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT FOR LENOIR-RHYNE UNIVERSITY, 2010-2023

  • The Force of Star Wars: Examining the Epic
  • Mad Science and Monsters
  • J.R.R. Tolkien: Hobbits, History, and Heroism
  • The Native American Experience
  • The Dystopian Tradition
  • U.S. Exceptionalism: The American and the Frontier
  • Harry Potter and His Predecessors
  • Native American Myth, Film, and Fiction
  • 100 Years of Literature about Single-Gender Worlds

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT FOR BEREA COLLEGE, 2019, 2021

  • Science Fiction
  • Identity and Diversity: Indigeneity, Appalachia, and Activism

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT FOR BELMONT UNIVERSITY, 2002-2011, 2016-2018

  • The Force of Star Wars: Examining the Epic
  • The History of the Future: A Century through Science Fiction
  • U.S. Exceptionalism: The American and the Frontier
  • Native American Identity in the U.S. Context
  • Native American Fiction and Film
  • The Trail of Tears
  • History and the Gothic Imagination
  • J.R.R. Tolkien in History, Political Thought, and Literature
  • Harry Potter and His Predecessors
  • Worlds Gone Wrong: The Dystopian Tradition
  • A Century of Literature about Single-Gender Worlds
  • Fan Participation in Media and Culture
  • First-Year Seminar: Knowing Today by Imagining Tomorrow

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES TAUGHT FOR VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, 1995-1997

  • Introduction to U.S. History, Part I
  • Introduction to U.S. History, Part II
  • Introduction to Western Civilization, Part I

AHS’s Education

PH.D. IN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY

1998
Vanderbilt University – Nashville, TN
Dissertation: “From Aniyuwiya to Indian Territory: Concepts of Cherokee Civilization, 1500-1839”
Passed Cherokee Language Exam with Fluency

AHS as Princess Leia in Tulsa, OK in 1978. Photo by Donald R. Sturgis.

M.A. IN HISTORY

1995
Vanderbilt University – Nashville, TN
Thesis: “‘Charged with Republican Notions’: Western Constitutions, 1775-1796”

B.A. WITH HISTORY MAJOR
and Political Science/Business Administration Double Minor

1993
Belmont University – Nashville, TN
Graduated Valedictorian and Summa Cum Laude
Presidential Scholar

HIGH SCHOOL

1990
Broken Arrow Senior High School – Broken Arrow, OK
Graduated Salutatorian and With Distinction
National Merit Scholar, Academic All-Stater

 

AHS’s Professional Honors

 

AWARDS

AHS prepares to accept the 2006 Imperishable Flame Award for Tolkien Scholarship from Lord of the Rings actors Craig Parker and Bruce Hopkins. Photo by Rosamunde Brownlocks

2015
Best Magazine Review/Criticism/Column Award in the 57th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards
for “Not Your Parents’ Dystopias: Millennial Fondness for Worlds Gone Wrong” in Reason
from the Los Angeles Press Club

2012
Great Graduate Award
from The Broken Arrow High School Alumni Association

2011
The Sofanaut Award in Podcasting
for Best Fact Article Contributor
for AHS’s “History of the Genre” segments
from StarShipSofa: The Audio Science Fiction Magazine

2009
The Sofanaut Award in Podcasting
for Best Fact Article Contributor
for AHS’s “History of the Genre” segments
from StarShipSofa: The Audio Science Fiction Magazine

2008
Honorable Mention in the 50th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards
as Best Entertainment Review/Criticism/Column
for “Florida’s Forgotten Rebels: Rediscovering the Most Successful Slave Revolt in American History” in Reason
from the Los Angeles Press Club

2006
The 2006 Imperishable Flame Award
for Accomplishment in Tolkien/Inklings Scholarship
from Heren Istarion, The Northeast Tolkien Society
(Inaugural Recipient of Award)

2004
Finalist for The ORC Award
for Best Tolkien-Based Lecture or Paper Presented at an Academic Function
for “Harry Potter is a Hobbit: How J.R.R. Tolkien Put the Adult in Children’s Literature”
from ORC: The One Ring Celebration

1995
Best Graduate Student Paper of 1995 Award
for “Essex and the People: Chivalry, Patriotism, and the Image of the Rebel Earl”
from The Carolinas Symposium on British Studies

AHS accepts the 2006 Imperishable Flame Award for Tolkien Scholarship from Lord of the Rings actors Craig Parker and Bruce Hopkins. Photo by Rosamunde Brownlocks.

SPECIAL RECOGNITIONS

2020
Keynote Speaker for “Mythmoot VI: An Annual Speculative Literature Conference”
sponsored by Signum University
(Keynote Address: “Speculative Fiction as ‘Reflecting Shield’: Defying and Defining the Darkness”)

2019
Credited as Researcher
for the SYFY Original documentary series Looking for Leia

2018
Keynote Speaker for “Generic Magic Festival”
in Roanoke, Virginia
(Keynote Address: “Why We Need New Magic: Tolkien, Rowling, and Post-Potter Fantasy Literature,”)

2018
Named One of 365 Notable Women of Star Wars (as Writer/Scholar)
from the 365 Days of Star Wars Women Project

2012
Award for Best “Archeology and Society” Film
for the documentary Oltre la Frontiera (in which AHS co-stars)
from the 23rd International Film Festival in Rovereto, Italy

2010
Hugo Award for Best Fanzine
for StarShipSofa: The Audio Science Fiction Magazine (to which AHS is a regular contributor)
from The World Science Fiction Society

2009
Keynote Speaker for “Pandora’s Box: Pushing the Boundaries,” The Third Annual Symposium of English Studies
at Tennessee Tech University
(Keynote Address: “Pushing the Boundaries in English Studies: From Middle-Earth to Hogwarts”)

2007
Notable Novel of 2006
for The Magic Ring by Baron de la Motte Fouqué (edited by AHS)
from The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007 edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin J. Grant

2006
The Scholarly Guest of Honor for Mythcon XXXVII by The Mythopoeic Society
(Keynote Address: “Native America and Fantasy: Meeting at the Crossroads”)