Ying Bao teaches Chinese language, literature, and culture at University
o f Nevada Las Vegas. She received her PhD in East Asian Languages
and Literatures from Ohio State University. Her research focuses on the
history and criticism o f Chinese cinema, the relationship between arts
and politics, comedy studies, oral performance, and folk tradition. She is
completing a book manuscript on film comedy under Mao and has
published in joum als such as Asian Cinema, Comparative Literature:
East and West, Modem Chinese Literature and Culture. Besides her
academic interests, she also enjoys gardening, hiking, and camping.
B ren t G ibson is Professor o f English at the University o f M ary HardinBaylor. He has published articles on nineteenth and twentieth-century
American literature. His major interests lie at the intersections o f populär
culture, American literature, and theology. He teaches an
interdisciplinary Honors course each fall and regularly presents papers at
SWCCL and PCA.
K athy M erlock Jackson is professor and coordinator o f communication
at Virginia W esleyan College, where she specializes in media studies,
animation, and children's culture. She holds a B.A. in English and
Spanish from W est Virginia University, an M.A. in English ffom Ohio
State University, and a Ph.D. in American culture, with concentrations in
radio-TV-film and populär culture, from Bowling Green State
University. She has published numerous articles and five books: Images
o f Children in American Film (1986), Walt Disney: A Bio-Bibliography
(1993), Rituals and Patterns in Children's Lives (2005), Conversations
with Walt Disney (2006), and Disneyland and Culture: Essays on the
Parks and Their Influence, co-edited with Mark W est (2011). A former
President o f the American Culture Association, Jackson edits The
Journal o f American Culture.
Patricia M. K irtley is an ASCP certified Medical Technologist. She
eamed a M aster o f Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults
from Vermont College o f Fine Arts in 2008. She has presented papers at
regional and national Populär Culture Conferences on the treatment o f
ageism and disabilities in children’s literature. She and her husband,
William, both enjoy travel, research, writing, and leaming from their
grandchildren.