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About Me

My name is Vaughn and I received my PhD in History in November 2024. My research is primarily concerned with how popular culture constructs and responds to the world around it, such as in my thesis-turned-manuscript on mid-century media manipulations of the Christmas holiday for socially conservative ends in Hollywood films from 1946 to 1961. I have also written public scholarly pieces on contemporary issues in Hollywood such as the repeal of the Paramount Decrees and the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. I maintain a newsletter entitled Review Roulette in which I promote media literacy and critical analysis through fun reviews of familiar films with a film studies methodology.

Recent Publications

Books
– Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy, De Gruyter [Forthcoming, October 2025].

– Working Title: Review Roulette: From Silent to Streaming [In development with De Gruyter]

Articles
– “Selling Santa: How Miracle on 34th Street (1947) Stole and Rebranded Christmas.” Comparative American Studies An International Journal, Taylor & Francis, October 2023, https://doi.org/10.1080/14775700.2023.2267337.

– “Jokes and Mirrors: Using Cartoons as Primary Sources for Historical Research.” Adam Matthew Digital, SAGE Research Methods, December 2021. https://doi.org/10.47594/RMPS_0065.

Book Chapters
– (Co-Authored) Vaughn Joy and Kassie Jo Baron. “Merry Mill Girls: Christmas and Industrialization in 19th Century New England” in Dreaming of Christmas: Rediscovering the Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Christmas Story, edited by Monika Elbert and Thomas Ruys Smith [Forthcoming, 2025].

– “Love, Marriage, and a Snow-Covered Carriage: Foundations of the Romantic Christmas Genre in Post-HUAC Hollywood, 1949-1954” in Under the Mistletoe: Holiday Romance Films, edited by Liz W. Faber (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2024).

– (Co-Authored) Vaughn Joy and A. Stuart-Thompson. “O Ornitólogo, João Pedro Rodrigues (2016)” in Naturezae Cinema Português Contemporâneo, edited by Filipa Rosário and José Duarte (Lisbon: Editora Documenta/Sistema Solar, 2024).

 

Public Scholarship

Review Roulette. Substack, September 2023 – Present

A weekly film review with the goal of encouraging media literacy among the public and breaking down barriers between academic film criticism and non-specialist viewer responses. Having begun with an introductory methodology post on 13 approaches to film analysis with definitions and examples of questions for consideration, I watch a film from the 20^th century and randomly select an approach from that list with which to review it.

Media Coverage

Social Media

@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social

Country Focus

United States

Expertise by Geography

United States

Expertise by Chronology

20th century, 21st century

Expertise by Topic

Public History