I love Naz students' curiosity and passion. They want to know the world, and will share their unfolding thoughts with professors, so we get to feed off of each other's enthusiasm. Media, communication, and related fields are full of concerning, shocking, and relevant new things to learn, and our program pairs well with any other major/minor.
My academic passion is investigating race, culture, and power across various contexts and times. I was trained as a historian before I transitioned into media studies as a grad student at New York University. An interdisciplinary scholar, I draw on methods, theories, and literature from across fields to discover how identity forms and is communicated. My research has taken me from 19th-century Cuba to 20th-century Detroit to queer futures. I enjoy scouring old newspapers to find insight into how race and social status worked in the past — and then helping readers and students connect those issues to the present day.
I've only been at Naz since August 2024, but I have already had the chance to create and deliver my dream course: Representation in Media, with a focus on critical media studies, race (particularly whiteness, one of my areas of expertise), and intersectionality. Students like to learn from me because I'm passionate about what I study and teach, and because I empower them to pick topics they care about.
A passion for seeking racial, wealth, and other types of justice motivated me to become an academic. I bring those convictions into the classroom, always emphasizing the "why" behind what I'm asking students to learn and apply. I give students lots of choice as to what they'll investigate, and encourage them to connect their passions to what we're learning, which creates a lot of engagement. I'm currently laying the groundwork for integrating community-engaged learning into my courses!
Whenever I'm scrolling through Bluesky or the news, I always pull relevant stories, clips, and examples. Media studies is an exciting, dynamic field that is always changing, and I love referencing news stories from that week in my lessons and making connections to course concepts.
Wondering who else you can learn from — and who will support and challenge you? Check out more Faculty Spotlights.