Monica Sousa received her B.A. (Honours) in 2017 and her M.A. in 2018 from Brock University. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at York University. She is a recipient of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2019-2020).

Monica specializes in contemporary literature, and her research focuses on animal studies, posthumanism, and biotechnology in contemporary science/speculative fiction. Her dissertation focuses on human and nonhuman animal relations in contemporary science fiction, with a focus on technologically engineered animals (or “biotech animals”, as she calls them) which can include genetically modified animals, animals with cybernetic/robotic enhancements, and other animals manipulated by more speculative biotechnologies. She is interested in the ethics regarding how we treat these animals and how we (if possible) can show care toward them after they have been created.

Monica’s scholarly work has appeared in chapters in edited books, such as Critical Insights: Life of Pi (2020), Transhumanism and Posthumanism in Twenty-First Century Narrative (2021), Posthumanist Perspectives on Literary and Cultural Animals (2021), and Animals in Narrative Film and Television: Strange and Familiar Creatures (2022). She has also a chapter forthcoming in late 2023, in a book titled Animals and Science Fiction and a book titled Screening Children in Post-Apocalyptic Film and Television. Her scholarly work has also appeared as articles in the academic journals SFRA Review and Journal of Posthumanism.

She has presented papers at many conferences, some of which include WorldCon, the Academic Conference on Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), the North Eastern Modern Language Association (NeMLA), the Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (ACCUTE), and the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts.

While at York, she has been working as a Teaching Assistant (TA) in the English, Writing, and Humanities department. In the Fall of 2023, she is working as a course instructor for EN 4005: Literature and Animals.

Monica’s other research interests include feminist theory and women and gender studies, horror, gothic literature (including Southern gothic), and ecocriticism.

Email address: monisousa93@gmail.com