ABSTRACT
We begin by considering the irony that we fmally finish this piece after Morna completes her Ph.D. We say this because the idea for this chapter started over three years ago in the fall of 1999 while Morna was beginning her doctoral program, when we realized our shared “blood lust” might prove for some interesting academic theory. Toby suggested that Morna watch Abel Ferrara’s 1995 film The Addiction, a movie based on the premise of a young woman, Kathleen, who is transformed into a vampire during the completion of her philosophy dissertation at New York University. At the time Morna wondered if she would find parallels between Kathleen’s life and her own as a doctoral student, as Toby had several years before. What does it mean to compare oneself to a vampire in the academy?
