Robert Barrett

Robert Barrett earned his BA at Sonoma State University in Interdisciplinary Studies and English Literature, and his PhD at UC Irvine in Comparative Literature, with graduate emphases in Feminist Studies and Visual Studies. His dissertation, Fairies Wear Boots: AIDS, Abjection, Identity examines literature, film, performance, art and activism in San Francisco, responding to the early part of the HIV/AIDS epidemic (1981-1997). Robert’s current research focuses on how activist movements of the 20^th and 21^st centuries articulate with literature, film, visual art and performance. Robert examines affective affinities with historical figures, how their legacies are transmitted, and mythmaking and fabulation as modes of resistance to erasure. Robert also teaches courses on Science Fiction and Fantasy literature and film, emphasizing queer, feminist and BIPOC authors/directors. His methodological approaches include Rhetorical Analysis, Cultural Studies, Feminist Studies, Queer Studies, and Native American Studies. Prior to graduate studies, Robert spent several years as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language.