Claire Sisco King, PhD

Claire Sisco King is an Associate Professor in the Communication Studies department and holds a secondary appointment in the Cinema Media Arts program.

Along with teaching rhetoric and communication classes, King teaches in the film studies program at Vanderbilt University and enjoys leading discussions on the construction of gender and sexuality in horror and disaster films.

King is the author of the 2011 book “Washed in Blood: Male Sacrifice, Trauma, and the Cinema.” The book argues that sacrificial films in which a male protagonist gives up their life so that others may be saved, are frequently prominent in eras when the nation is thought to be in crisis.

Many of King’s works have been published in various communication and media studies journals, including the Western Journal of Communication, Critical Studies in Media Communication, and the Quarterly Journal of Speech.

King has been selected for various honors and awards including the 2012 New Investigator Award in the Rhetoric and Communication Theory Division by the National Communication Association, and the 2011 Jeffrey Nordhaus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in the Humanities from the College of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt University.