Andrew Korah
- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Contact Info
Personal Links
Biography —
I am a PhD student in Literature at the KU English Department. I submitted my Master's dissertation on the topic of aesthetics and form in the works of Philip K Dick. My research interests are in Speculative Fiction, Modernism and Indian Literature. I enjoy analyses of form, prosody, and close reading, which I use to explore our larger cultural understanding of aesthetics. Outside of academia, I enjoy cycling, hiking and hanging out with trees.
Education —
Honours
Specialization
My specializations are in Speculative Fiction, Modernism, and Indian Literature.
Research —
My research focuses on the emergence of genres of Speculative Fiction alongside literary movements, like Modernism, during the 20th Century. I explore how modernity and methods of material production, such as print technology, impacted the development of aesthetics in Speculative Fiction. I'm also interested in the role of speculative aesthetics in contemporary discussion of politics and technology.
Teaching —
Teaching Philosophy:
Learning is a messy process, full of small mistakes that takes time, practice and active engagement to develop. My primary way of teaching is through creative practices that helps them develop a love for art and literature and encourages them to become effective interpreters as well as producers of art and literature.
Courses I have taught include:
English 101: Composition and Writing through Music Listening
English 102: Critical Reading and Writing
English 209: Introduction to Fiction
English 300: Introduction to English Studies
The 20th century English novel: Fantasy Fiction
Selected Publications —
Co-authored with Parvathy Rajendran. "Power through Othering: How Conlangs Find Value within Narratives." Popular Culture Studies Journal, vol. 11, No. 2, Fall 2023.
"The Construction of the Cyborg Player in Transistor: A Ludo-Narrative Analysis," Samyukta Journal of Gender and Culture, vol. XX, July 31, 2020.
Selected Presentations —
"'For there all echoes die': Photogravure, astrophotography, and the imagery in the art of Lord Dunsany and Sidney Sime". Presented as part of a panel titled “SF and Explorations in Form” at the 2025 Sturgeon Symposium, The University of Kansas.
"'And so she was': Sympoiesis and Relationality in the Stories of Cordwainer Smith." Presented as part of a panel titled “General Spatio-Temporal Relationality & Disruption” at SFRA 2023: Disruptive Imaginations, a joint international conference between the Science Fiction Research Association and the Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung, held at Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
"On Faith and Masculinity in Lijo Jose Pellisserry’s Films." Presented as part of a panel titled “Gender in Global Speculative Fiction” at the 2022 Sturgeon Symposium.
"'To Pray to the Stars': The Nonmoral Devotion to Beauty in Dunsany’s Fantasy". Presented at Dissenting Beliefs: Heresy and Heterodoxy in Fantasy, an online conference on Fantasy fiction, organized by Glasgow University’s Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic.
"Gendered Mechanics: A Ludological Approach to Gender in Games". Presented at Chinese DiGRA 2017, a video game conference held in Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Awards & Honors —
The Kenneth Rockwell Award for the essay titled “‘For there all echoes die’: Photogravure, astrophotography, and the imagery in the art of Lord Dunsany and Sidney Sime”. Awarded in March 2026 for excellence in the study of literature based upon the submission of one critical essay and a Degree Progress Report.
Best Paper for “Gendered Mechanics: A Ludological Approach to Gender in Games.” Awarded at the 2016 International Gender Conference organized by the English Department at Christ University, Bangalore.
Grants & Other Funded Activity —
Graduate Research Assistant for the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2025.