Gary Hoppenstand, professor of film studies and 20th-century literature in MSU’s Department of English, was recently announced as the recipient of the Lynn Bartholome Eminent Scholar Award. Hoppenstand will receive this award at the annual national Popular Culture Association, or PCA, meeting in April.
According to the PCA website, the association is a “group of scholars and enthusiasts who study pop culture – writing, sharing and publishing in the field.” It’s the largest association of its kind in the world.
“Nominees are provided to a sub-committee of the national Popular Culture Association’s Governing Board,” Hoppenstand said. “These nominations are vetted, and then sent to the President of the PCA for final approval.”
Hoppenstand followed up by stating that “this award is a validation of all my academic work.”
According to the PCA’s website, this award recognizes significant contributions by a scholar working in a field under the umbrella of Popular or American culture. The award, started in 2015, formalizes the PCA’s tradition of honoring scholarly work.
Hoppenstand’s research is focused on genre and formula studies in popular fiction, graphic novels and film. He has published twenty-four books, including nine scholarly reprint editions of classics novels for Signet Classics and Penguin Classics and over sixty scholarly articles on topics ranging from popular culture studies to literary and media studies.
His next two books to be published include an anthology of his essays on adventure literature and an edited collection of scholarly articles about thriller writer Dean Koontz.