Meet the Executive Team

For general inquiries, contact support@southwestpca.org.

Lynnea Chapman King, phd (she/her)

Lynnea Chapman King, phd (she/her)

Executive Director

Affiliation: Adams State University

Research interests: Film adaptation

Current pop culture passion: Bridgerton, generational studies

First year at SWPACA: 1994

Tamy Burnett, phd (she/her)

Tamy Burnett, phd (she/her)

Treasurer

Affiliation: University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Research interests: TV studies, Gender and Sexuality, Disability studies

Current pop culture passion: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (always and forever); Sitcoms; Quilts/Quilting

First year at SWPACA: 2007

Kathleen Lacey, phd (she/her)

Kathleen Lacey, phd (she/her)

Area Chair, Student Awards, and Professional Development Coordinator

Affiliation: Academic Advisor & Lecturer, Department of English, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Research interests: African American women’s literature, girlhood studies, fiction writing

Current pop culture passion: The Last Kingdom (I just bought, on purpose, a funko pop of Uhtred)

First year at SWPACA: 2012

Stephanie Lim, phd (she/THEy)

Stephanie Lim, phd (she/THEy)

Communications Coordinator

Affiliation: Lecturer in English, Theatre, Queer Studies, and Academic First-Year Experiences, California State University, Northridge

Research interests: Uses of American Sign Language in music on stage and screen; Deaf/disability studies; American musical theatre, representations of minoritized identities on stage

Current pop culture passion: True crime documentaries and reality TV; theme parks; Nintendo games

First year at SWPACA: 2019

Ken Dvorak, PHD (he/him)

Ken Dvorak, PHD (he/him)

Development Coordinator

Meet the Schoenecke Institute Fellows

To reach an Institute Fellow, email support@southwestpca.org.

2023-2025 Cohort

Ashley Johnson, PhD (she/her)

Ashley Johnson, PhD (she/her)

Affiliation: Assistant Manager, DMA Circle Membership Program, Dallas Museum of Art

Research interests: Middle Grade Literature, adaptation theory, the representation of politics in medieval narratives and histories (and how they persist in popular culture today), representations of diversity in literature, and the cultivation of identity through storytelling

Current pop culture passion: Feminist retellings/histories of traditionally male dominated pop culture arenas (art, comic books, superheroes, comedy, etc.)

First year at SWPACA: 2019

David Powers Corwin, PhD (they/them)

David Powers Corwin, PhD (they/them)

Affiliation: Assistant Professor of Social Justice and Human Rights, George Mason University

Research interests: LGBTQ+ studies, friendship studies, TV studies, Appalachian studies

Current pop culture passion: classic television, Cheers, and the Mary Tyler Moore World

First year at SWPACA: 2015

2024-2026 Cohort

Elizabeth Gonzalez (she/her)

Elizabeth Gonzalez (she/her)

Dialogue Musings Editor

Affiliation: Adjunct, Texas Southmost College; PhD student, Our Lady of the Lake University

Research interests: Arts, specifically the ways Latinos express culture, past memories, and narratives through artistic creations, and the impact this has in classroom settings; how higher education takes on leadership roles to support minority groups in the arts in response to cultural artwork

Current pop culture passion: The Walking Dead, Selena, Breaking Bad; how historical techniques and techniques from pop art, along with the use of lines, colors, textures, and various media, are used to represent life and culture in the art of minority groups

First year at SWPACA: 2024

Keaton Gregg (HE/HIM)

Keaton Gregg (HE/HIM)

Affiliation: Master’s student, Cleveland State University

Research interests: queer semiotics, postmodernism, and scopofascination

Current pop culture passion: trashy romance novels and cinema

First year at SWPACA: 2022

Liz Thomae (she/her)

Liz Thomae (she/her)

Assistant Chair, Harry Potter Studies / Eco-Criticism and the Environment

Affiliation: PhD student in Rhetoric, Indiana University

Research interests: Religious rhetoric and identity construction

Current pop culture passion: Taylor Swift, especially fandom research

First year at SWPACA: 2023

Don’t ask; we just like alpacas–and it rhymes with SWPACA!