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Lauren R. O'Connor is a dedicated teacher and scholar of American culture, literature, and history. Their work focuses on the social construction of adolescence and youth popular culture. Building on their award-winning dissertation, Lauren published their first book, "Robin and the Making of American Adolescence," with Rutgers University Press in 2021. In their professional as well as personal life, Lauren values curiosity and community. Lauren loves pop music, sidewalk chalk, and pretzels.

Education
PhD, American Culture Studies, Bowling Green State University, 2019
MA, Counseling and Human Services, Roosevelt University, 2013
BA History, Illinois Wesleyan University, 2009
Selected Publications

O'Connor, Lauren. “Young Forever? Looping Time and Fractured Futures in BTS’s Bangtan Universe.” In Entering the Multiverse: Perspectives on Alternate Universes and Parallel Worlds, edited by Paul Booth. Routledge, 2024.

O'Connor, Lauren. Robin and the Making of American Adolescence. Rutgers University Press, 2021.

O'Connor, Lauren. “The Sidekick’s Sidekick: Batman, Robin, and the Erasure of Black Adolescence.” The Journal of Popular Culture 53, no. 1 (2020): 170-191.

O'Connor, Lauren. “More than a Retcon Replacement: Disability, Blackness, and Sexuality in the Origin of Operator.” In Uncanny Bodies: Superhero Comics and Disability, edited by Scott Thompson Smith and José Alaniz. Penn State University Press, 2019.

O'Connor, Lauren. “Inseparation of Powers: DC Comics, Flex Mentallo, and the Necessity of Adolescence.”  The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 10, no. 2 (2019): 244-258.

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