Dr. Aren Roukema

Biography

Aren Roukema is a sessional lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His work integrates literary criticism, cultural studies, history, and religious studies to analyze narrative relationships within secular and post-secular societies. He focuses on the representation of popular culture and heterodox religions in genres like science fiction and gothic literature. Currently, he is examining the encoding of racism and racial hierarchies across Anglosphere literature, primarily from the nineteenth century. Aren holds a PhD in literature and cultural studies from Birkbeck, University of London, and an MA in religious studies from the University of Amsterdam. He has completed postdoctoral research, funded by the Wellcome Trust, and his monograph, "Esotericism Narrative: Occult Fiction Charles Williams" (Brill, 2018), delves into the relationships between heterodox currents and modern religious experience, drawing on themes from alchemy, Kabbalah, and ritual magic. His works have been published in various academic journals and edited volumes, contributing significantly to the discourse on literature and esotericism.

Research Interests

Experience