Dr Christina Wilkins

• PhD English and Film, University of Southampton (2016)
• MA English, University of Southampton (2010)
• BA (Hons) English, University of Southampton (2009)

The majority of my early academic experience was at the University of Southampton where I studied English. I moved into Film and Television with my PhD which looked at the mediation of gendered and religious identities in contemporary vampire narratives. This led me to thinking about adaptations, which has been my particular area of interest for the last ten years. Alongside this, I have been researching into mental health and established the Mental Health Humanities Researcher Network in 2023.

I have previously taught at the University of Winchester and the University of Southampton across the film, English, and American studies departments. Outside of academia, I have been a poetry editor and copywriter.

I teach across the film and creative writing department, including my module Adaptation: Theory and Practice and Film Genres.

Adaptation, mental health

Find out more - our PhD Film Studies  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

My primary research area is adaptations. I have published various chapters related to this field, regularly participate in the AAS conferences (and am on the board of trustees), have established the BAFTSS Adaptation group, am Associate Editor for Adaptation and have recently released books in this area. Embodying Adaptation: Character and the Body  (2022) examines the connection between character and the body, and the hierarchies inherent within this relationship. It seeks to find a new approach to adaptations that is framed by the body and its importance in our increasingly intangible society. Authenticity and Adaptation (2025) is a recent edited collection I put together exploring the intersections between authenticity in contemporary culture and the concept of adaptation.

My other research interests include mental health, identity, memory, and queer studies. This is reflected in the chapters I have published on these topics. Another strand of my research is male mental health and suicide in contemporary culture, which is the focus of my newest monograph, Male Mental Illness in Contemporary Culture.