Erin McHarge

Biography

Erin McHarge is an interdisciplinary scholar that studies how queer identities are woven into the fabric of television shows and understood by audience members. Erin holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University in English and Law & Society. Her SSHRC and OGS funded Master’s thesis Got to be Real: Queering Reality, Identity, and Audience Affect on RuPaul’s Drag Race at Carleton University in Women’s and Gender Studies researched the cultural significance of reality television and audience perception of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Erin’s current scholarship continues to study the role of audience affect and queer theory in relationship to how sexuality and gender are represented in television and other popular culture.

Research Interests: Queer theory; affect theory; television studies; popular culture; audience studies; autobiography