Kaja Franck is the programme leader for the MA: Literature & Culture (Online), and a lecturer in English Literature at the University of Hertfordshire. Her thesis, part-funded through a studentship through the research project 'Open Graves, Open Minds', focused on the literary werewolf as an ecogothic monster. She has published on the depiction of wolves and werewolves in Dracula and Young Adult fiction. Most recently writing about werewolves, gender and race in Ginger Snaps Back for the Gothic Studies journal, on the wilderness in Modern Gothic (ed. Clive Bloom) and co-authoring a chapter on contemporary werewolves for Twenty-First-Century Gothic (eds Maisha Wester and Xavier Aldana Reyes). She is currently working on chapters looking at werewolf fiction and hybridity, and trolls, religion and ecohorror.

• Academia.edu Profile, including public outreach and OpenAccess publications

Ecogothic criticism; Gothic studies; Ecogothic approaches to fairies, trolls, and werewolves; Shark horror; Animal studies; Vampires in popular culture; Ballet as a Gothic medium

Current Projects

• 2022-Present: 'Danse Macabre', co-founded with Dr Karen Graham and Kate Harvey, focused on researching the Gothic nature of dance, particularly ballet. Twitter: @dansegothic

Previous Projects:

• 2014-2024: Member of 'Open Graves, Open Minds', led by Dr Sam George and Dr Bill Hughes, dedicated to the study of the Undead and other monsters in popular culture. Twitter: @OGOMProject

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL); Modelling vulnerability for students; the Compassionate Classroom; Weird Teaching - liminality and learning

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Graduate representative for Impactful SoTL Educational Enterprise Collective (ISEEC), co-founded with Dr Earle Abrahamson and Dr Peter D'Sena and based at the University of Hertfordshire, dedicated to sharing and researching best practices in Higher Education, and innovative approaches to teaching.