Dr Christina Wilkins

• PhD English and Film, University of Southampton (2016)
• MA English, University of Southampton (2010)
• BA (Hons) English, University of Southampton (2009)

The majority of my early academic experience was at the University of Southampton where I studied English, and moving into Film with my PhD which looked at the mediation of gendered and religious identities in contemporary vampire narratives. This led me to thinking about adaptations, which has been my particular area of interest for the last five years.

I previously taught at the University of Winchester across the film, English, and American studies departments. Outside of academia, I am a poetry editor for a small press which I joined in 2018.

I teach across the film and creative writing department, including my module Adaptation: Theory and Practice and Film Genres.

Adaptation, mental health

My primary research area is adaptations. I have published various chapters related to this field, regularly participate in the AAS conferences (and am on the board of trustees), have established the BAFTSS Adaptation group, and have recently released a book in this area. This book, Embodying Adaptation: Character and the Body examines the connection between character and the body, and the hierarchies inherent within this relationship. It seeks to find a new approach to adaptations that is framed by the body and its importance in our increasingly intangible society. It was published through Palgrave in 2022 as part of the Adaptations and Visual Culture series. My other research interests include mental health, identity, memory, and queer studies. This is reflected in the chapters I have published on these topics. Another strand of my research is male mental health and suicide in contemporary culture, which will be the focus of my next monograph.