Articles and Essays Written by AHS
ARTICLES AND ESSAYS BY AHS
AHS signing books at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, OK in 2007. Photo by Karen H. Sturgis.
2026
“Educators on Teaching Shirley Jackson: A Dialogue,” The Oxford Handbook of Shirley Jackson, Emily Banks and Kristopher Woofter, eds., Oxford University Press, 2026 (forthcoming)
2024
“‘Lifting Old Curses’: The mirror dance of The Flowers of Vashnoi and The Mountains of Mourning,” Short But Concentrated #2: A Second Essay Symposium on the Works of Lois McMaster Bujold, Una McCormack, ed., Fifth Storey Press, 2024
2023
“Teaching Shirley Jackson’s Hangsaman (1951),” Reading Shirley Jackson in the 21st Century (January 27, 2023)
“Beyond the Wilds and the Waves: Reevaluating Archer, the Armory, and Enterprise,” Star Trek: Essays Exploring the Final Frontier, Amy H. Sturgis and Emily Strand, eds., Vernon Press, 2023
“Dark Arts and Secret Histories: Investigating Dark Academia,” Potterversity: Essays Exploring the World of Harry Potter, Kathryn N. McDaniel and Emily Strand, eds., McFarland, 2023
2020
“Foreword,” The Transmedia Franchise of Star Wars TV, Dominic J. Nardi and Derek R. Sweet, eds., Palgrave Macmillan, 2020
“Indians and Aliens: Human Beings’ Disturbing Capacity to Manufacture History to Serve Our Own Ends,” Reason (August/September 2020)
2019
“Indigenous Futurisms,” Sci-Fi: A Companion, Jack Fennell, ed., Peter Lang, 2019
“The Creek Nation and the Culture of Consent,” Reason (November 2019)
2018
“‘Some Lingering Influence in the Shunned House’: H.P. Lovecraft’s Three Invitations to Dark Tourism,” Virtual Dark Tourism: Ghost Roads, Kathryn N. McDaniel, ed., Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
2017
“Blood for Oil: A Covert War with the Osage Nation,” Reason (November 2017)
“Introduction,” Everyone: Worlds Without Walls, Tony C. Smith, ed., StarShipSofa, 2017
“George Washington’s ‘Founding War of Conquest’: The Standing Army, Native American Opposition, and the High Cost of Territorial Expansion,” Reason (October 2017)
“Words from the Guest Editor,” Apex Magazine Issue 99 (August 2017)
“The Once and Future Chief: Tecumseh in (Science) Fiction,” Apex Magazine Issue 92 (January 2017)
2016
“Hogwarts in America: In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J.K. Rowling Crosses the Atlantic and Makes a Hash of North American History and Culture,” Reason (December 2016)
“His Fordship in the Capitol and Big Brother in the Districts: The Hunger Games and the Modern Dystopian Tradition,” Critical Insights: The Hunger Games, Lana A. Whited, ed., Grey House/Salem Press, 2016
“Star Wars, Remixed: George Lucas’ Universe Is a Mashup Masterwork,” Reason (January 2016)
2015
“Seeking Dumbledore’s Mother: Harry Potter in the Native American Context,” Harry Potter for Nerds, Volume 2, Kathryn McDaniel and Travis Prinzi, eds., Unlocking Press, 2015
“The Many Resurrections of Sherlock Holmes: Why the Great Detective Is Always in Fashion,” Reason (October 2015)
“Harry Potter and the Dystopia After Tomorrow,” Ravenclaw Reader: Seeking the Artistry and Meaning of J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts Saga, The St. Andrews University Harry Potter Conference, John Patrick Pazdziora and Micah Snell, eds., Unlocking Press, 2015
“Feminism, Frankenstein, and Freedom: The Individualistic Works and Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley,” Reason (June 2015)
2014
“Not Your Parents’ Dystopias: Millennial Fondness for Worlds Gone Wrong,” Reason (October 2014)
“Foreword,” The Lay of Lirazel, Stephen R. Babb, Hidden Crown Publishing, 2014
2013
Reviews of Son by Lois Lowry and Article 5 by Kristen Simmons, Prometheus: The Newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Society, Vol. 31, Number 2 (Winter 2013)
“If This Is The (Final) Frontier, Where Are The Natives?” Star Trek and History, Nancy Reagin, ed., Wiley Blackwell, 2013
“Sherlock Holmes and Science Fiction,” Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, Issue 10 (Fall 2013)
“From Both Sides Now: Lois McMaster Bujold and the Fan Fiction Phenomenon,” Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Janet B. Croft, ed., McFarland, 2013
2012
“Deadly Colonialist Fables: What Dueling Origin Myths from the 19th Century Tell Us about Ourselves,” Reason (December 2012)
“Stranger in a Familiar Land,” Cato Unbound (July 9, 2012)
“Amy H. Sturgis: Lecturer at the Mythgard Institute” (An Interview), Harry Potter, Still Recruiting: An Inner Look at Harry Potter Fandom, Valerie Estelle Frankel, Zossima Press, 2012
2011
“H.P. Lovecraft and the Imaginative Tale,” Part 1 and Part 2, Revolution Science Fiction (August 2011)
“In Search of Fringe‘s Literary Ancestors,” Fringe Science: Parallel Universes, White Tulips and Mad Scientists, Kevin R. Grazier, ed., Smart Pop Books, 2011
“‘Just Get Us a Little Further’: Liberty and the Frontier in Firefly and Serenity,” The Philosophy of Joss Whedon, Dean Kowalski and S. Evan Kreider, eds., University Press of Kentucky, 2011
“Top Ten ‘Must Read’ Time Travel Works,” StarShipSofa Stories Volume 3, Tony C. Smith, ed., StarShipSofa, 2011
“Reimagining ‘Magic City’: How the Casts Mythologize Tulsa,” Nyx in the House of Night: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion in the P.C. and Kristin Cast Vampyre Series, P.C. Cast, ed., Smart Pop Books, 2011
2010
“Gothic Schoolboy (1)” and “Gothic Schoolboy (2),” co-authored with James Thomas, Travis Prinzi, and John Granger
in Harry Potter Smart Talk: Brilliant PotterCast Conversations About J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts Saga, John Granger, ed., Unlocking Press, 2010
“‘Tolkien is the Wind and the Way’: The Educational Value of Tolkien-Inspired World Music,” Middle-earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien, Bradford Lee Eden, ed., McFarland Publishing, 2010
“2012: The Good, The Bad, and the Apocalyptic,” Apex Magazine, Issue 7 (January 2010)
2009
“Meeting at the Intersection: The Challenges Before Us,” The Intersection of Fantasy and Native America: From H.P. Lovecraft to Leslie Marmon Silko, David D. Oberhelman and Amy H. Sturgis, eds., Mythopoeic Press, 2009
“When Harry Met Faërie: Rowling’s Hogwarts, Tolkien’s Fairy-Stories, and the Question of Readership,” Hog’s Head Conversations: Essays on Harry Potter, Travis Prinzi, ed., Zossima Press, 2009
“Early Utopias,” Prometheus: The Newsletter of the Libertarian Futurist Society, Vol. 27, Number 4 (Summer 2009)
Review of Faith and Choice in the Works of Joss Whedon by K. Dale Koontz, Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopeic Literature, Vol. 27, Numbers 3/4 (Spring/Summer 2009)
2008
“Sexy Nerds: Illya Kuryakin, Mr. Spock, and the Image of the Cerebral Hero in Television Drama,” co-authored with Cynthia W. Walker, Common Sense: Intelligence as Presented on Popular Television, Lisa Holderman, ed., Lexington Books, 2008
2007
“Forgotten Rebels: The Most Successful Slave Revolt in American History,” review of Rebellion: John Horse and the Black Seminoles by J.B. Bird, Reason (April 2007)
“On Lingalad,” The Music of Lingalad: From Tolkien to the Secrets of Nature, Donato Zoppo, primary author and ed., Bastogi, 2007
AHS in costume with a student after speaking at Lenoir-Rhyne University's Harry Potter Fest 2010. Photo by Kim Britt.
2006
“‘Strange and Fearful Imaginations’: Rediscovering the Terror of Baron de la Motte Fouqué,” Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, Vol. 2 Issue 4 (Winter 2006)
“The Parables of Octavia Butler: A Science-Fiction Writer’s Rich Libertarian Legacy,” Reason (June 2006)
“Reimagining Rose: Portrayals of Tolkien’s Rosie Cotton in Twenty-First Century Fan Fiction,” Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopeic Literature, Vol. 24, Numbers 93/94 (Spring 2006)
“The Myth of the Passive Indian,” review of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann, Reason (April 2006)
2005
“The New Shoggoth Chic: Why H.P. Lovecraft Now?” Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, Vol. 1 Issue 4 (Winter 2005)
“Make Mine ‘Movieverse’: How The Tolkien Fan Fiction Community Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Peter Jackson,” Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, Janet B. Croft, ed., Mythopoeic Press, 2005
“Interdisciplinary Tolkien,” The Art of Teaching, Vol. 11, No. 4 (November 2005)
“Exile Without an End: The first ethnic cleansing in American History,” review of A Great and Noble Scheme by John Mack Faragher, Reason (September 2005)
2004
“Harry Potter Is A Hobbit: Rowling, Tolkien, and The Question of Readership,” CSL: The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society (May/June 2004)
“Not the Same Old Hickory: The Contested Legacy of Andrew Jackson,” review of The Passions of Andrew Jackson by Andrew Burstein, Reason (May 2004)
2003
“Government and Politics” and “Social Trends,” American Decades, 1940-1949: Primary Sources, Lynn Koch, ed., Gale Group, 2003
2002
“Anarchism,” “Federalism,” “Feudalism,” “Libertarianism,” “Populism,” and “Utopianism,” Political Theories for Students , Matthew Miskelly and Jaime Noce, eds., Gale Group, 2002
AHS in 2007 at the site of Buchanan's Station, where a young Tecumseh fought and his older brother died. AHS visited this place in Nashville, TN while researching her biography of Tecumseh. Photo by Larry M. Hall.
2001
“Brutal History,” review of The Wild Frontier: Atrocities During the American-Indian War From Jamestown Colony to Wounded Knee by William M. Osborn, Reason (October 2001)
2000
“The Sword in the Starship: Arthuriana in the Four Incarnations of Star Trek,” Winedark Sea (March 2000)
1999
“‘Liberty in Perfection’: Freedom in Native American Thought,” Ideas on Liberty (September 1999)
“Prophesies and Politics: Millenarians, Rabbis, and the Jewish Indian Theory,” Seventeenth Century, vol. 14, no. 1 (April 1999)
“Tale of Tears,” Reason (March 1999)
1994
“The Rise, Decline, and Reemergence of Classical Liberalism,” The LockeSmith Review: Great Thinkers in Classical Liberalism, Amy H. Sturgis, Nathan D. Griffith, Melissa English, Joshua B. Johnson, and Kevin D. Weimer, eds., The LockeSmith Institute, 1994
ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES BY AHS
- “Robert Heinlein” and “Rose Wilder Lane” in The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, SAGE Publications, 2008
- “J.R.R. Tolkien” in Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy: An Encyclopedia, Greenwood Press, 2008
- “Fan Fiction,” “Lord of the Rings,” “The Shaping of Middle-Earth” in The J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment, Routledge, 2006
- “President James Monroe” and “Monroe’s Tour of New England,” Americans at War: Society, Culture, and the Homefront, Macmillan, 2006
- “Osage,” “Kickapoo,” “Ponca,” “Winnebago” in The Louisiana Purchase: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, 2002
- “Nathan Green” and “West H. Humphreys” in The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, The Tennessee Historical Society, 1998
POPULAR FEATURES BY AHS
2016-2017
- Blog post series for Learn Liberty, a Project of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University
2008
- Review of The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, StarShipSofa.com (February 2008)
AHS on a panel at ConCarolinas in Charlotte, NC in 2009. Photo by Arymetore.
2006
- “Out of the Woods,” Pop Thought (June 2006)
- “The View from the Apex,” Pop Thought (May 2006)
- “Getting Gothic, Old-School Style,” Pop Thought (March 2006)
- “O Big Brother, Where Art Thou?” Pop Thought (March 2006)
- “Nun of Your Business,” Pop Thought (January 2006)
2005
- “New Year’s Resolutions for 2006,” Pop Thought (December 2005)
- “Mood Music for the Holidays,” Pop Thought (November 2005)
- “Lovecraftian Doings,” Revolution Science Fiction (October 2005)
- “Since I found Serenity,” Pop Thought (October 2005)
- “Interview and Report with Glass Hammer,” PARMA NÖLÉ: The Official Journal of the New York Tolkien Society, (September 2005)
- “Review Club: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,” Pop Thought (May 2005)
- “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet: An Interview with Steve Babb of Glass Hammer,” Pop Thought (April 2005)
- “Éowyn from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings” and “Hermione Granger from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series” in “Top 75 Heroines of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror: Part IV,” Revolution Science Fiction (January 2005)
2004
- “Let It Be, George” in “Three Views to Help You Choose,” Pop Thought (November 2004)
- “Beam Me Up, King Arthur?!?! Or How the Five Incarnations of Star Trek Reflect Arthurian Legend,” Pop Thought (October 2004)
- “Looking [There And] Back Again at The Gathering of the Fellowship,” reprinted as cover feature in Beyond Bree: Newsletter of the American Mensa Tolkien Special Interest Group (June 2004)
- “My Completely Unsolicited Thoughts About Troy,” Pop Thought (May 2004)
- “Lord of the Rings, Rock On! A Music Consideration of Lord of the Rings,” Pop Thought (May 2004)
- “Sci-Fi and Fantasy Hunks,” Revolution Science Fiction (April 2004)
- By Tim O’Shea, “An Interview With Amy H. Sturgis,” interviewed for Pop Thought (April 2004)
- “An Interview with Giuseppe Festa,” PARMA NÖLÉ: The Official Journal of the New York Tolkien Society, Issue No. 9 (February/March 2004)
- “Looking [There And] Back Again at The Gathering of the Fellowship,” PARMA NÖLÉ: The Official Journal of the New York Tolkien Society, Issue No. 9 (February/March 2004)
2003
- “An Interview with Glass Hammer,” PARMA NÖLÉ: The Official Journal of the New York Tolkien Society, Issue No. 8 (November/December 2003)
- Review of The Dead Zone, Revolution Science Fiction (October 2003)
- Review of Miracles, Revolution Science Fiction (April 2003)
AHS signing at her 2006 book launch event in Toronto, Ontario. Photo by Ryan Cagle.
2002
- “The Top Five Tolkien CDs,” Revolution Science Fiction (June 2002)
2001
- Review of The Battlestar Galactica Trilogy — Battlestar Galactica: Armageddon, Battlestar Galactica: Warhawk, and Battlestar Galactica: Resurrection, Revolution Science Fiction (August 2001)
- Review of Alien Voices, Revolution Science Fiction (August 2001)
- Review of Star Trek: Voyager: “Endgame,” Revolution Science Fiction (August 2001)
- Review of The Prisoner, Revolution Science Fiction (July 2001)
- Review of The X-Files: Season 8, Revolution Science Fiction (July 2001)
- Review of The Lone Gunmen, Revolution Science Fiction (July 2001)
- Review of Trek Expo 2001, Revolution Science Fiction (July 2001)
- “An Interview with Jeremy Bulloch,” Revolution Science Fiction (July 2001)
- Review of The Pretender 2001, Zealot.com (January 2001)
2000
- Review of “A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners by Lois McMaster Bujold, Zealot.com (March 2000)
- Review of A History and Critical Analysis of Blake’s 7, The 1978-1981 British Television Space Adventure by John Kenneth Muir, Zealot.com (February 2000)