I’m Michelle, a researcher and educator living in Cincinnati, OH.

I graduated from the University of Iowa in May of 2020 with a Ph.D. in Communication Studies, focusing on Rhetoric and Public Advocacy. I previously earned a graduate certificate at Iowa from the Department of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies.

I am an Assistant Educator Professor in the School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies at the University of Cincinnati, where I also serve as the Undergraduate Director for the online BA in Communication. Previously, I was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the department of Interdisciplinary and Communication Studies at Miami University’s regional campus in Hamilton, OH. I’ve also taught in the Communication Department at Xavier University as well as the Departments of Communication Studies, Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and Rhetoric at the University of Iowa. While I’ve enjoyed teaching everything from argumentation to public speaking, I jump at the chance to teach special topics courses at the intersection of media and critical race and gender studies.

My research interests are focused at the intersections of contemporary rhetorical theory, gender and sexuality studies, critical race studies, and transnational feminist theory. Whether I’m studying media narratives of “badass” Kurdish combatants or the whiteness of prolific feminist comedians, my projects are unified by centering the marginalized, deconstructing investments in normative whiteness, and identifying discursive practices that dispossess communities. You can find my recent work in the pages of Women’s Studies in Communication, the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, and Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies. Recently, I’ve also been digging into more autoethnographic work around bereavement and digital community.

Outside of academic life, I spend most of my free time running, taking care of my daughter and our four pets, fostering rescue animals, and working on legacy projects in memory of my son Sami. You can read more about Sami’s story here and here. In November 2024, I’m running the NYC Marathon to fundraise for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.