AMS Graduate Student Spotlight—Coyote Shook
Name: Coyote Shook
Pronouns: they/them
Title: PhD Candidate
Q: What are your research interests, both academic and for fun, while in American Studies at UT!?
A: My research is interested in the interacting histories of disability, capitalism, and the ocean in US history. I also have an emerging interest in including Arctic Studies as something that binds the three more clearly. The irony of an emerging interest in the Arctic when it is in the process of shuffling off this mortal coil is not lost on me. Maritime history has always interested me, but it wasn’t until I was working on my oral exams that I noticed an opportunity for more scholarship that might bridge eco-crip studies and blue humanities. I didn’t see as much research on ocean environments and disability,, even though water fundamentally challenges our conception of “able-bodiedness” and gives people an accessible frame of reference for accommodations. For example, a scuba tank is a form of accommodation, as are flippers, diving masks, etc. Yet we seldom think of them in those terms. I found that to be a really interesting application of critical disability studies, and I dove in, so to speak.
For my dissertation (which I’m presenting as a graphic novel), I’m specifically looking at the history of whaling in America through a disability lens. Whaling was once one of the largest industries in the US and was a significant source of energy prior to the discovery of crude oil in Pennsylvania around the time of the Civil War. From a disability perspective, this was work with low pay and a high risk of “maiming” that left many whalers permanently disabled from amputation, heatstroke, illness, and insanity. I’m attempting to position the Yankee whale boat as a form of “water factory” and apply disability histories of factories in the Industrial Revolution to the process of making whale oil on ships thousands of miles from dry land. Next, I’m attempting to examining whales in contemporary environmental discourse. While people erroneously assume 19th century whaling significantly damaged whale populations, whales are faring worse now from collisions with cargo ships and sound pollution, despite their status as charismatic megafauna. I’m interested in bridging questions of “empathy’ for the environment and for disabled people under late capitalism. Considering that disabled people are disproportionately like to be impacted by climate change, I’m seeking to challenge the limits of “empathy” when it comes to ocean and water justice.
For fun, I really, really enjoy cooking, drawing comics, depression naps, archery, swimming, and ruining low-stakes game nights by being overly competitive.
Q: How did you make your way to American Studies as a discipline?
A: I’ve always been drawn to interdisciplinary fields when it comes to research. When I was in undergrad, I really loved fusing subjects. It probably helped that I studied literature, gender studies, and US history. When I went back to graduate school, I figured out pretty quickly that I was an Americanist because of all the “newness” (both good and bad) of United States histories and cultures. My MA thesis analyzed blizzards and frostbite on the 19th century Great Plains. I would not have been able to do the research I did without fusing literary studies, history, and gender studies. Furthermore, I love the freedom that AMS offers when it comes to what is considered research. There is much more space in this field for public-facing creative research that is designed to give access points for non-academics. Things like The Wisconsin Death Trip have been hugely influential on my work and my own fluctuating definitions of my research. Similarly, I find the kinds of questions emerging in the field to be stimulating, challenging, and growth-oriented.
Q: What is the nature of your work? What method(s) do you utilize the most? How does your current work align with American Studies?
A: In terms of methods, the overarching approaches in my work are critical disability studies and comics-as-research. In terms of overlap, I’m trying to take a public-facing, climate justice-oriented approach to research. As many American scholars have noted, the goal of our work should be rooted in social justice and innovative approaches to making out work broadly accessible. While that’s still certainly a work in progress for me, I feel my research has improved vastly by utilizing AMS methodology. I’m drawing a lot of inspiration from a mix of artists, writers, and scholars, such as: Andy Kirk, Sunaura Taylor, Lucia Berlin, Julie Buffalohead, Ellen Samuels, Sami Schalk, Leonora Carrington, Lisa Noring, Joe Sacco, Thi Bui, Jina B. Kim, Cynthia Wu, Jack Davis, Rachel Carson, Manuel Rodriguez Lozano, Juli Berwald, Rafael Zarza Gonzalez, and Grace Hale. I’m also doing a bit more reading into American Studies scholarship on bioacoustics and sound studies, both of which are really fascinating, especially when put in conversation with critical disability studies. Finally, I’m trying to think through Alaska and Arctic studies through an American Studies lens and the place of both of those topics in the history of energy, which has been challenging and requires a lot of “suturing,” but has also introduced me to a lot of great work many Alaskan and Arctic scholars have been doing.
Q: Are you currently working on any projects, and if so tell us about them!
A: Firstly, I’m trying to learn the Wednesday Addams dance. Of lesser importance, I’m working on my dissertation, Ahab’s Leg: a Disability History of American Whaling in Pictures. While it’s a way off, I’m also working on two other projects: a graphic novel about the history of mermaids in America and a graphic novel about Anna Nicole Smith.
Q: How does American Studies at UT make your work possible?
A: In addition to having such wonderfully intelligent and generous people on my committee, faculty across the department have been so kind and thoughtful with their suggestions and recommendations that have moved my research forward. One faculty member who I met with in office hours last year emailed me a great article on bioacoustics because they remembered it was of interest to my research on recording whale “songs.” Another gave me great resources about the history of whaling in Hawai’i and the impact it had on colonization. Furthermore, I’m supremely fortunate to have the professional and personal community I’ve been able to form with several of my fellow graduate students. Being able to learn more about and celebrate each other’s interests has made me feel part of a larger community trying to do new things in the field. It also gave me new colleagues whose feedback and insight I trust wholeheartedly and whose friendships I deeply value.
Another thing that sets AMS at UT apart from other programs is their willingness to wade into new territory when it comes to how research is presented. I’d heard from graduate students employing nontraditional research methods (such as creative and/or multimedia dissertations) at other programs that faculty might be initially friendly to new types of research but would try to funnel you into a more traditional model later on. However, that was the total opposite of my experience here. Not only were my committee members supportive, they also gave me suggestions and professional contacts for people doing similar research. My committee has consistently shown a commitment to graduate students producing excellent work, and I appreciate them holding my unorthodox graphic novel dissertations to high standards.
Q: What is your favorite thing about AMS at UT.
A: To call it an Island of Misfit Toys would probably seem condescending on the surface because this is such a phenomenal group of gifted and prodigious scholars. No misfits here. However, what I love about this program is that such a wide variety of research is represented and how so little of it fits within neat boxes. The fact that people in this program can take such complex and fascinating topics and make brilliant, unique, and insightful connections is a testament to the caliber of this space. We have such a plethora of experts that cover so many different topics and fields in this space that it becomes overwhelming. Walking around in a UT AMS event, you could hear conversations about Titanic, sharks, murder clowns, the Alamo, HIV/AIDS memorials, dinosaurs, digital borderlands, banana imports, and pretty much anything else you could imagine related to US culture and history. It’s a wonderfully stimulating space and people have genuine love and affection for their research topics. I cannot remember one event, academic or social, in this department that didn’t end with me wanting to go home and immediately research more about something I overheard.
Bonus Q: What is a fun fact about you that you would like your colleagues, peers, and/or students to know about you?
A: I spent my undergraduate years convinced I’d get my PhD in medieval studies and become a Chaucer expert. I still have my mom’s Riverside Chaucer that she used at school in the 80s, and it’s one of my favorite possessions (along with my first edition copy of Silent Spring). I’m still a sucker for medieval and Renaissance history and will put on Ruth Goodman specials when I have down time and need to unwind. I also love Renaissance fairs and go to at least one per year. It’s deeply uncool. It’s probably a cry for help.
