Project Description
Home / Members / Graduate Students / Revna Altiok
RESEARCH AREAS:
- Extremism and Cultural Propaganda
Identity, Otherness, and Monstrosity
Anime and Animation Studies
CONTACT:
Rotman Institute of Philosophy
Western University
Western Interdisciplinary Research Building
London, Ontario, Canada
N6A 3K7
REVNA ALTIOK
Doctoral Student
FIMS, Western University
Revna Altiok is a Ph.D. candidate in Media Studies at Western University, researching anime, monstrosity, and extremism. Her work examines how these themes shape identity, Otherness, and cultural representation, with a focus on the history of animation, monster theory, and ethical and cultural messaging. She views anime as both a tool of critique and a reflection of societal fears, nationalism, and ideology, while also celebrating its ability to engage audiences in imaginative storytelling. Revna earned an M.A. in Media Studies from Bilkent University, where she researched nonhuman Otherness and ecocriticism in animation. Her broader research interests include authoritarian dynamics, posthumanism, AI representation in visual media, speciesism, anime fandoms, and the ideological influence of media.
Revna Altiok is a Ph.D. candidate in Media Studies at Western University. She explores how anime negotiates monstrosity, Otherness, and extremism. Her research positions anime as a medium that both reflects and shapes societal anxieties while examining how nonhuman and marginalized figures function as sites for ethical, ideological, political, and cultural engagement. Drawing on historical and cultural analyses, she traces the evolution of Japanese animation from early educational and wartime films through contemporary global circulation. Revna employs monster theory, posthumanist thought, and media studies to investigate how representations of robots, cyborgs, yokai, and other nonhumans traverse cultural and political contexts, sometimes reinforcing exclusionary ideologies and at other times fostering empathy and ethical reflection. Her work highlights the pedagogical potential of anime as well. Anime shows how the same narratives and figures can operate as tools for persuasion, critical reflection, and intercultural negotiation all at once, depending on audience and context. Revna earned an M.A. in Media Studies from Bilkent University, where she focused on nonhuman Otherness and ecocriticism in animation, and her research continues to examine the intersections of media, ideology, and ethical engagement in global visual culture.
Articles
Altiok, R. (2024). Unveiling Ken: The Healing Journey of a Manic Pixie Dream Monster. M/C Journal, 27(3).
Theses
Altiok, R. (2021).An Ecocritical Analysis of Human-Others and Nature-Others in Popular Animated Fantasy Series. (Order No. 30158240). Available From ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global Closed Collection. (2734703782).
Conference Presentations
“Designing an Anime Studies Syllabus: Teaching Monstrosity and Tolerance”, JAMS@AX25 (Anime Expo), Los Angeles Convention Center. Los Angeles, CA, July 2025.
“Embracing the Other: Monsters in Japanese Animation as Agents of Empathy and Understanding”, Northeast Popular Culture Association (NEPCA). Nichols College. Dudley, MA. October 2024.
“The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride: Gender and Identity in Blue Eye Samurai”, Generating Community: A FIMS Graduate Student Conference. Western University FIMS. London, ON, Canada April 2024.
“Unveiling Ken: The Healing Journey of a Manic Pixie Dream Monster”, You Can Be Anything: Imagining and Interrogating Barbie in Popular Culture. PopCRN. Zoom, March 2024.
“Return to Seeding Island”, FTV Conference: At Land and Sea: Topographical Imagination and the Moving Image. Istanbul Bilgi University. Istanbul, Türkiye, May 2023.
“Seeding Island: Carte de liminalité Workshop”, FTV Conference: New Creative Praxis in Film and Television: Hybrid Features of Gender Equality. Istanbul Bilgi University. Online Conference, May 2022.
“Representation of Gender and Nature in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power”, Femspec Symposium. Zoom, June 2021.
Fall 2025/Winter 2026
MIT 1020: Foundations of Media, Communication, and Technoculture, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Fall 2024/Winter 2025
MIT 1020: Foundations of Media, Communication, and Technoculture, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Fall 2023/Winter 2024
MIT 1020: Foundations of Media, Communication, and Technoculture, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Fall 2022/Winter 2023
MIT 1020: Foundations of Media, Communication, and Technoculture, Faculty of Information and Media Studies
Winter 2020
COMD 207: History of Film and Media