AMY SLONAKER, JD, PhD
aslonaker@gmail.com
CONTACT
Religion, Mythology and Depth Psychology
Comparative Mysticism
Imagination and Consciousness Studies
Christian Hippie Comics
AREAS OF STUDY
2024: Doctor of Philosophy
Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, California
Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology.
Dissertation title: “The Varieties of Comic Book Experience: Reading Comic Books as Mystico-Visionary Texts”
1999: Juris Doctorate
Seattle University School of Law, Seattle, Washington
1995: Bachelor of Science
University of California at Santa Barbara
Double Major in Religious Studies and Political Science
EDUCATION
September 2018:
“Folk Horror and The Wicker Man: Ancient Origins and Modern Revival”
Morbid Anatomy, Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY
July 2020:
“Monster Theory and Comparative Popular Culture Practices: The Gospel According to Jughead”
Fates & Graces Mythologium Online
June 2021:
“Lawyer Competence and Well Being”
Santa Barbara College of Law, Santa Barbara, CA
May 2023:
“Superheroes and an Emergent Modern Mythology"
Pacifica Graduate Institute Online
July 2023:
Theosophical Architecture in Hollywood and Ojai, California”
Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, CA
October 2023:
“Theosophical Architecture in Hollywood and Ojai, California”
Morbid Anatomy Library Online
October 2023:
“Haunted Landscapes in Folk Horror Cinema”
Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
October 2023:
“Road House as Folk Horror”
Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, CA
November 2023:
“Surrealist Themes in the Comic Book Art of Alejandro Jodorowsky”
International Society for the Study of Surrealism, Houston, TX
January 2024:
“Surrealist Themes in the Comic Book Art of Alejandro Jodorowsky”
Viktor Wynd Museum/Last Tuesday Society online
January 2024:
“Road House as Folk Horror.”
Morbid Anatomy Online
January 2024
Art & Mysticism with Amy Slonaker: an ongoing lecture series featuring
Kumono Kodo authors J. Christian Greer and Michelle K. Oing
Morbid Anatomy Online
February 2024:
“Christian Hippie Comics of the 1960s and 70s”
Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, CA
April 2024
Art & Mysticism with Amy Slonaker: an ongoing lecture series featuring
Rave New World independent journalist, Michelle Lhooq
Morbid Anatomy Online
June 2024
“Theologically Innovative Comic Books”
The 2024 CESNUR Conference
Universite Boudeaux Montaigne, Bordeaux, France
June 2024
“Applications of Myth & Comic for Myth Students”
Pacifica Graduate Institute, Myth & Comics class
August 2024
“Marvel Mutants and the Occult Roots of Comic Books”
Signal Intrusions Podcast by Spectrevision, Los Angeles
September 2024
“Stage 4 Cancer and my Night Sea Journey to Wellness”
Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles
PRESENTATIONS
PUBLICATIONS
FORTHCOMING: Grant Morrison and Religion
McFarland & Co (2025)
2023: Mystico Erotics of the Next-Age Superhero: Christian Hippie Comics of the 1970s” from A New Gnosis: Comic Books, Comparative Mythology, and Depth Psychology.
Palgrave Macmillan (2023)
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
2000-2023: Member of the State Bar of California
1999-2003: Criminal Defense Attorney, Law Office of Linda Fullerton, Point Richmond, CA
2003-2017: Securities Litigation Attorney, Sullivan & Cromwell, New York, NY
VIDEO
July 2020:
“Monster Theory and Comparative Popular Culture Practices: The Gospel According to Jughead”
Fates & Graces Mythologium Online
October 2023:
“Theosophical Architecture in Hollywood and Ojai, California”
Morbid Anatomy Library Online
ABOUT
Amy Slonaker is an independent scholar based in Santa Barbara, California. After practicing law for 20+ years she changed course to pursue her true interest in the study of comparative religion as a means to interrogate the nature of human consciousness. She now writes, lectures and teaches on these topics.