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Terror as Resistance: Revisiting the Role of the EdD Dissertation Chair
Mon, April 25, 4:15 to 5:45pm PDT (4:15 to 5:45pm PDT), SIG Virtual Rooms, SIG-Philosophical Studies in Education Virtual Roundtable Session RoomAbstract
A previous consideration of the theme of doctoral education, myth, and monsters explored the identity of the dissertation chair that can be caught up within James’s (1903) octopus. In this paper, I revisit the role of dissertation chair, but examine it via lessons that might be taken from the horror genre. The horror film industry is well-known for often producing low-budget, B-level dreck designed for cheap thrills. However, when done well, it is a genre that can uniquely explore deep philosophical and social issues. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and, more recently, Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us are examples of successful, critically acclaimed films that examine race and class through the medium of horror. Here, I specifically focus on the role of “terror” in the horror genre. Terror, or dread, is distinct from horror in that it represents the disturbed feeling that anticipates the possible horror to come; the moment of realization that the monster might be out to get you. In this paper, I will explore different uses of terror in horror films and offer it as a potentially useful concept for thinking through liberating doctoral education. While terror is something that many educational practitioners experience when faced with the monster that is the dissertation, it strikes me that such feelings often stem from insecurity. Just as characters in horror movies often experience terror through the realization that there is nothing and no one to protect them from the monster, doctoral students often experience terror when faced with the idea that there is no rulebook they can simply apply that will safely carry them to dissertation success. With this in mind, I will consider how dissertation chairs can use terror as a productive site for resistance and a space to reclaim education as a site of liberation.