Office:   Lasher 011 Office Phone:   740.593.4903 Email:   aw275709@ohio.edu

I received my B.A. in Political Science and Communication & Media Studies from Georgetown College. While at Georgetown, I had the opportunity to travel abroad to complete a term at Oxford University studying international normative theory. By coupling an interpersonal communication and media studies curriculum with advanced courses in international relations and political philosophy, I developed a deep curiosity towards the issues that characterize the contemporary political environment at local, national, and international levels.

As a doctoral student at Ohio University, my research has continued to be informed by my background in communication and politics. Broadly speaking, I study the ways in which people negotiate conflicting meanings attributed to the materiality of their existence. I am continually learning more about the ways that symbolic and material aspects of bodies and buildings and streets and fields interact to create societies, as well as the challenges that citizens, community organizers, and political agents encounter in their efforts to construct a particular public. 

My personal interests in issues of gender, education, and community development have situated my research across a variety of contexts. Previous studies have explored anti-abortion and anti-war protest rhetoric, public deliberation in various contexts, and conflict in an elementary school classroom. What unites all of my academic pursuits is a belief that isolationism, if it were ever truly possible, seems completely unviable in the overpopulated, interconnected world that we live in today. I strive, therefore, to better understand the ways that we communicatively construct a world with others.

Outside of my academic interests, I enjoy all things outdoors (especially biking, hiking, and kayaking) and a few things indoors, such as painting, poker, and playing with my crazy cat Oliver.