Explores representations of ‘high-functioning’ adult autism in autobiographical, scientific and fictional texts to demonstrate the value of Cultural Studies towards understanding autism as a subjective condition and social category. James McGrath lectures in Cultural Studies at Leeds Metropolitan University. Since 2003, he has been researching and publishing on interdisciplinary approaches to autism, as well as producing academic work on popular music. His 2007 journal article ‘Reading Autism’ (Interdisciplinary Literary Studies) was among the first wave of Literary and Cultural Studies approaches to studying autism. He has reviewed books depicting disability for Spanish Journal of Irish Studies, Times Higher Education, and Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies and presented papers on autism at interdisciplinary conferences at Manchester Metropolitan University and Leeds Trinity University, as well as at a medical conference at the University of Huddersfield. He has published extensively on popular music, with a focus on The Beatles, in academic journals and edited collections. He has have published articles in broadsheets (The Independent), regional newspapers (Yorkshire Evening Post, Liverpool Daily Echo) and national magazines (The Big Issue). He is regularly invited to discuss topics relating to media and popular culture on BBC Radio both locally and nationally. |