David J. Puglia, Ph.D., is Professor and Chairperson in the English Department at Bronx Community College of The City University of New York, where he teaches courses in folklore, children’s literature, popular culture, and writing—when he’s not responding to emails, attending meetings, or staring at spreadsheets.

He received his M.A. in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University, under the supervision of Dr. Michael Ann Williams, and his Ph.D. in American Studies from Penn State Harrisburg, under the supervision of Dr. Simon J. Bronner—plus, for good measure, an M.P.A. in Public Policy and Administration from John Jay College.

He is the author or editor of four books: North American Monsters: A Contemporary Legend Casebook (2022, winner of Brian McConnell Book Award), Tradition, Urban Identity, and the Baltimore “Hon”: The Folk in the City (2018, cited by the BBC), Maryland Legends: Folklore from the Old Line State (2014, with co-author Trevor J. Blank), and South Central Pennsylvania Legends and Lore (2012). His essays have appeared in the Folklore Historian, New Directions in Folklore, Contemporary Legend, Children’s Folklore Review, and Digest, and he has contributed chapters to the Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies, What Folklorists Do, Supernatural Cities, Youth Cultures in America, and The Encyclopedia of American Studies. He’s also worked behind the scenes as a consultant on legend research and writing for films, publishers, and cultural organizations you’ve likely never seen or heard of.

He is the past editor of Contemporary Legend and New Directions in Folklore and a member of the editorial boards of Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore, Supernatural Studies, and New Directions in Folklore and the Aesop Prize committee of the American Folklore Society’s Children’s Folklore Section. He previously served as president of the Middle Atlantic Folklife Association and as a member of the Executive Council of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research.