Degrees
2005, BA English, Psychology, Plan II Honors, University of Texas
2008, MA Humanities, University of Chicago
Bio
I am doctoral candidate and teaching fellow in the Department of English & Comparative Literature at UNC, Chapel Hill. My research concerns contemporary television, narrative theory, science fiction, digital pedagogy, and cultural and media studies more broadly. My dissertation, Watching the Watchers: Contemporary Television, Complex Seriality, and Media Literacy, uses contemporary TV to address the proliferation of serialized storytelling—a form that dominates our media landscape. How did this phenomenon develop? In what ways does the serial form both shape and respond to both commercial and aesthetic demands? And why is serialized storytelling intoxicating?
This topic grew out of my passion for science fiction TV (especially Star Trek) and a recognition that we urgently need to encourage better media literacy. As an educator, I likewise encourage my students to leverage their natural curiosities toward their academic work. I have taught several composition courses at UNC, including Writing Across the Disciplines, Writing in the Social Sciences, and Writing in the Humanities, in addition to designing and teaching sections of Literature & Cultural Diversity and Film & Culture. I’ve also been afforded the opportunity to TA for Matthew Taylor’s Literature, Medicine, and Culture and Gregory Flaxman’s Film Analysis classes. My auxiliary interests in social justice, community education, music, and visual art also keep me busy with a number of UNC-affiliated and community-based groups and projects.
Teaching Awards
- Digital Ethnic Futures (DEFCon) Teaching and Capacity Building Mentorship Fellowship, 2022
- Mellon Grant Teaching Apprenticeship, Humanities for the Public Good and Night School Bar, 2022
- Latina/o Studies Teaching Fellowship, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2022
- Social Justice Pedagogy Initiative Fellowship, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2021
- Betts Award for Excellence in Teaching Composition, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2021
- Undergraduate Teaching Award (SUTASA), UNC-Chapel Hill, 2020
- Erika Lindemann Award for Excellence in Teaching Composition, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2018
- Erika Lindemann Award for Excellence in Teaching Literature, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2015
Awards
- Frankel Departmental Dissertation Fellowship, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2021
- UNC-King’s College London Global Partnership Grant, 2019
- UNC-King’s College London Global Partnership Grant, 2017
- Graduate and Professional Student Federation Travel Grant, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2015
- George Hills Harper Summer Research Fellowship, UNC-Chapel Hill, 2013-2014
- M.A.P.H. Fellowship, University of Chicago, 2007-2008
- Department of Psychology Hibbs Scholarship, University of Texas, 2005
- Phi Beta Kappa, University of Texas, 2005