Foundation Award for Teaching

I. Philosophy of Teaching

My teaching philosophy is guided by an ethos of critical kindness and includes the following tenets:

Recognizing students as individuals | Kindness is rooted in the knowledge that each student has a rich history of experiences in education and in their everyday lives. To help them meet their individual goals, I must understand those experiences and what they mean in relationship to my classroom.

Incremental, reflective learning | Incremental, reflective learning is a value-oriented approach that follows naturally from recognizing the individuality of students and treating them with kindness. Incremental learning looks different for each student, but no matter where students fall on the spectrum of preparedness, their learning must always be reflective.

Creating a playful, collaborative environment | Learning has always been a joyful experience for me; I hope to translate that to my students by cultivating an environment that is open, accessible and, many times, quite silly. Classrooms are the perfect avenue through which to play with new ideas.

Continual self-assessment | If I ask my students to engage in regular self-reflection, it is only fair that I am willing to do the same. Extending critical kindness to myself is necessary for exceptional teaching.

II. Example of Courses/Topics

• MED 317: Introduction to Popular Culture Studies
• MED 454: Media Analysis & Criticism
• MED 704: Theory & Research in Media
• UHC 410: Senior Honors Seminar – Pop Culture Fandoms
• COM 714: Qualitative Research Methods in Communication

I teach a variety of courses to both undergraduates and graduates. No matter the level, I center the importance of reading contemporary scholarship and conducting original research. Integrating popular culture into my classes in seamless given that that is the subject I teach, but I believe this strategy could be strategically incorporated into any discipline, allowing us to “meet students where they are” while maintaining the rigor of our academic goals. 

III. Future Projects

My research centers on the relationship between popular culture audiences and fans and the expressions of identity and selfhood, and primarily employs qualitative methods (interviews and focus groups). 

Future research projects include:

• Critical Autoethnographies of Popular Culture: Engaging the Cultural Stories that Shape Us (edited collection under contract with Bloomsbury)
• The postfeminist fantasy of Taylor Swift (draft presented at an academic conference in April 2026; preparing final manuscript for publication)
• Swiftie fandom and theories of play (data collected; preparing manuscript for publication)

In terms of teaching, I co-led an education abroad experience to London in May 2026 focused on British Popular Culture. I am working with my departmental colleagues to develop a “CMJF in London” signature program for our department that will run each summer with rotating faculty. Moreover, I am working with my communication graduate faculty colleagues to revamp our Communication M.A. program to more adequately serve students seeking to continue their education at the doctoral level. 

IV. Topics related to teaching and of interest to the University Community, for which you are available for presentations and/or consultations (e.g., presentation tools, special topics, technology, public affairs).

• Ungrading and alternative methods of assessment
• Integrating popular culture in the classroom
• Proactive advising
• Mentoring student research
• Strategies for developing meaningful student-teacher relationships
• Developing quality presentations and public speaking coaching
• Qualitative research methods