Bio

Dr. Aíne M. Norris (pronounced “AWN-yuh”) is a recent Ph.D. graduate from Old Dominion University and holds a B.A. and M.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work primarily uses mixed methods to examine popular culture and technology. She is the co-editor of Recasting the Bygone Witch: Representations of Lesser-Known Witches in Popular Culture (2026) and has also published articles in The Journal of American Culture, Bandwagon: The Journal of the Circus Historical Society, Horror Homeroom, Margaret Atwood Studies Journal, and in chapters for Routledge and University of Wales Press. Her research uncovering untold information about turn-of-the-century circus aerialist, Eva Clark, was featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer, The News Virginian, and as a special feature on WHSV TV-3 in Virginia.

Norris was awarded a Circus & Allied Arts Collection Fellowship at Illinois State University (2022) for her dissertation on circus language. She won the 2025 William M. Jones Award from the Popular Culture Association for her research un-masking a nineteenth century Appalachian witchcraft accuser using stylometric methods and archival resources and the 2026 William E. Brigman Award from the Popular Culture Association for her paper on Maria Rasputin’s time in circus. In early 2026 she was award an essay prize from the Northeast MLA Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Caucus for her paper on witchcraft in the archives of Virginia. Norris recently co-curated an exhibit for Circus World Museum (2025) about the history of iron jaw performance in American circus and is currently the temporary co-host for Circus Stories: A Circus History Podcast. She has taught English, composition, and literature courses for Northern Virginia Community College, Pensacola State College, and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.