• Since 10/2017: Ph.D. (in progress), dissertation title: Imagining the Monstrous: Trans* Posthumanism in Contemporary Speculative Fiction, Universität Tübingen, Germany
• 10/2012-06/2013: Graduate Diploma in Theology & Religious Studies, thesis: Sexuality and Informal Authority in the Church of England, University of Cambridge, England
• 10/2009-06/2010: MPhil in English Literature, thesis:Make Your Own Myth: Gender Creativity in Costume Role-Play, University of Cambridge, England
• 09/2005-06/2009: Bachelor of Arts English Literature, thesis: Remus *hearts* Sirius: Queer Perspectives in Harry Potter Fanfiction, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

• Since 10/2017: Orangewood Foster Youth Foundation--Advanced Studies Fund
• 08/2015-05/2016: Pacific School of Religion--President’s Scholarship
• 08/2015-05/2016: Pacific School of Religion--Director’s Award
• 10/2012-07/2013: Orangewood Foster Youth Foundation--Advanced Studies Fund
• 10/2009-06/2010: Cambridge English Faculty--Read-LeBas Award
• 10/2009-06/2013: Jack Kent Cooke Foundation--Higher Education Scholarship
• 06/2009: University of California, Los Angeles--Charles E. Young Award
• 06/2009: UCLA--Departmental Honors
• 06/2009: UCLA--College Honors
• 06/2009: UCLA LGBT Center--Excellence in Academics Award
• 01/2008-06/2009: UCLA--McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program Fellow
• 06/2008: UCLA--English Department Hasting’s Prize for Academics
• 03/2008: UCLA--Dean’s Prize for Poetry
• 06/2006: UCLA--German Department, Book Award

This dissertation analyzes the intersection of trans* and posthuman themes in contemporary speculative fiction. Taking a comprehensive view of trans* representation, it encompasses the genres of magical realism, afrofuturism, feminist science-fiction, gothic horror, as well as emerging sub-genres in self-published digital media. Central themes are trans*temporality, relationships with queer and feminist theories, race and intersectionality. These themes crystallize in the figure of the monster, at once marginalized from normative social categories, yet at the same time deconstructing and reimagining the category of human.

• Feminist Posthumanism
• Queer Theory
• Critical Trans* Studies
• Critical Race Theory
• Afrofuturism
• Speculative Fiction
• Cultural Studies
• Digital Cultures
• Fanfiction and Fan Communities
• Disability Studies
• Critical Border Studies

• 10/2016-06/2017: English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Teacher, Quaggy Community Trust, London, United Kingdom
• 09/2014-06/2016: English Literature and Executive Functioning Tutor, Meyers Learning Center, LLC, Los Altos, CA, USA
• 08/2012-09/2012: Resident Instructor, Bing Honors College, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Academic

• Ledbetter, Charles. “Sexuality and informal authority in the Church of England.” Theology, vol. 120, no. 2, 2017, pp. 112–121., doi:10.1177/0040571x16676676.

Non-fiction

• Ledbetter, Charles. “Gender Alterity at the Border.” Contro-verse-y, vol. 1, no. 1. (forthcoming)
• Ledbetter, Charles. “Alan Rickman: He Made Snape Sexy.” The Tusk, 26 Jan. 2016, www.tusk2.com/2016/01/26/alan-rickman-he-made-snape-sexy/.

Poetry

• Ledbetter, Charles. “Upon the Burning of Grandpa’s Mobile Home.” Westwind Literary Journal. UCLA. Fall 2007.

• 03/2018: “Immanion Press: A Case Study of Trans Community Publishing," Moving Trans* History Forward Conference, University of Victoria, Canada
• 05/2011: “The Privatization of Public Protest," Spaces of Alterity Conference, University of Nottingham, UK
• 03/2010: “Make Your Own Myth: Identity in Harry Potter Costume Play," Clare College Research Symposium, University of Cambridge, UK
• 04/2009: “Remus *hearts* Sirius: Queer Resignification of Harry Potter," NPA/ACA Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA
• 06/2008: “Slash Fanfiction’s Challenge to Heteronormativity," Plenary Session, California McNair Symposium, University of California, Berkeley, USA