June 22, 2010

Knepper	Radosti

Morningside College faculty member and a recent graduate

present at national popular culture conference

A Morningside College faculty member and a graduate recently presented at the National Popular Culture & American Culture Associations Annual Conference in St. Louis, Mo.

Adrianna Radosti of Sioux City, a December graduate of Morningside College, presented her senior thesis project, “When Beowulf Met Batman: Adapting ‘Beowulf’ for Film and Stage in the 21st Century,” in a session on British popular culture. Her advisor for the senior thesis project was Marty Knepper, professor and chair of English.

For the project, Radosti studied a recent “Beowulf” film famous for Angelina Jolie playing the monster Grendel’s mother as a seductress, and an original adaptation of “Beowulf” presented at Morningside College last fall by Art Moss, assistant professor of theatre.

Also at the conference, Knepper presented a paper, “Adapting Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple Series: Fidelity to the Text vs. Appeal for a New Generation,” in a session on Agatha Christie in the mystery/detective fiction area. Knepper’s paper is part of her long-term research project on Christie as a writer. The paper defends the recent series of TV films starring Geraldine McEwan and more recently Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple.