 |
 |
Department
of Communication & Journalism
|
 |
 |
Ph.D.
Graduate Students (To see M.A. profiles, click here.) (To see Ph.D. and M.A. students who have recently graduated, click here.) (To see graduate student recruitment video, click here.) Ph.D.
profiles  Claudia AnguianoPh.D. Student 2007 Cohort  Claudia obtained her B.A in communication studies with a minor in political science from California State University of Los Angeles in 2004. She continued to pursue rhetorical studies while working toward her M.A. at CSULA. As a graduate T.A., she taught public speaking and oral interpretation courses. Claudia graduated in 2006, having received the Special Recognition in Graduate Studies Award. Before beginning her doctoral studies at UNM, Claudia taught multiple communication classes as adjunct instructor at Pasadena City College and Glendale Community College. She was also an instructor for a nonprofit organization committed to helping underprivileged students attend higher education. Claudia's research interests are in law and political communication. She hopes to continue to use a rhetorical/critical lens to look at issues revolving race, gender and border identities. Building on her personal experience as a Mexican female, she hopes to utilize her research interests in a way that will bring about positive social change.
Sasha is originally from Yekaterinburg, Russia, via Arkansas, where she has been living since she was 15. Sasha graduated from a small liberal arts school in Arkansas, Hendrix College, with a B.A. in international relations, global studies and German. She received her M.A. in interpersonal and organizational communication from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Sasha believes that as a Christian she is called to be an agent of positive change in the world (to serve others, to share the fruit of academic research, and to bring the light of love into each interaction). This has been manifested through Sasha's work for the Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission of the City of Little Rock on spreading diversity efforts in high schools. Sasha has also done work for a global nonprofit organization, Heifer International, in developing an orientation and adjustment program for new employees. Sasha considers herself very blessed to be a part of such strong, diverse, and supportive community as the Department of Communication and Journalism. Sasha is hoping to devote her future career to making a positive impact through consulting, program design and development, and motivational speaking. In the meantime, Sasha is talking life one moment at a time, treasuring and enjoying each breath of air. See Sasha's curriculum vitae.
Lorenda received her M.P.H. from UNM-Albuquerque with an epidemiology
concentration where she gained valuable research experience and knowledge
while being mentored by Drs. Nina Wallerstein, Bonnie Duran, and John
Oetzel. The research methodological approach that she has been trained
and mentored in is Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR).
She has eight years of CBPR experience with working with both Native
American Pueblo and Navajo communities, first as a graduate research
assistant and now as a UNM Health Sciences associate scientist II
with the Center for Participatory Research in the Department of Family
and Community Medicine. She works on the CBPR's Family Listening Project,
a translational research project adapting an intergenerational family
intervention trial that brings inquiry into culturally specific communication
concepts in the model. Prior to graduate school, Lorenda served as
the deputy and acting executive director of the Navajo Nation’s
Environmental Protection Agency. Lorenda’s research area of
interest focuses on the role of health communication strategies for
translational research that involves the community as participants
in a two way mutual learning situation to improve community health,
particularly tribal communities of the Southwest. In 2007-08 and 2008-09
Lorenda received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellowship. Lorenda
is adjunct faculty with the UNM Gallup Branch and has taught courses
in introduction to public health.
Christopher Brown is pursuing research interests in rhetorical theory and intercultural communication. Christopher's research interests include critical race theory and whiteness studies. His favorite books are Curious George and anything written by Michel Foucault. Christopher received four outstanding teaching awards in May 2007 from the C&J Department, Rocky Mountain Communication Association, University of New Mexico, and the College of Arts and Science.
Jo has earned an M.S. in integrated marketing communications from University of Denver, an M.B.A. from UNM, and an M.A. in English from Texas Tech. This background in business communication drives her interest in real-world uses of persuasive power and how that power can be used ethically and responsibly. Her current research centers on how leadership and personal influence are communicated online, as exemplified in the MMO World of Warcraft computer game. See Jo's curriculum vitae. Born in Taiwan, Yea-Wen holds a B.A. in English from National Taiwan Normal University and an M.A. in communication from the University of North Texas. In May 2006, she received the Outstanding Graduate Scholar Award from the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Texas. At the annual International Communication Association Conference in May 2007, her paper titled "Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Rhetorical Visions Embedded in the Blogs of Expatriates in Taiwan" was placed on the top-four student paper panel sponsored by the Mass Communication Division. At the annual National Communication Association conference in November 2007, one of her four paper presentations co-authored with Chie Torigoe was placed on the top student papers in the intercultural communication panel sponsored by the International and Intercultural Communication Division. Yea-Wen's primary research interests center on issues of cultural identities, identity negotiation, and self-disclosure in intercultural friendships. She is also interested in the issues of identity negotiation situated in Taiwan's political transformation toward democracy as well as in Chinese mother-daughter relationships. Yea-Wen has taught courses in introduction to communication, public speaking/Research Service Learning Program, and interpersonal communication. She is teaching public speaking/Freshmen Learning Community and ITRAC. See Yea-Wen's curriculum vitae.
Maria is from Koronadal City, in South Cotabato, Philippines. She holds a B.A. in mass communication and journalism and an M.A. in speech communication from Wichita State University. Her master's thesis was titled: "The Perfect Wife and Companion: A Study of Mail-Order Bride Web Sites and the Marketing of Filipino Women." She transferred from the University of Kansas in 2005. Her primary research interests are intercultural communication, feminism, and cultural nuances. She has great interest and passion for issues that affect women — especially women of the Third World. Maria is currently working on a research project that entails the analysis of mail-order-bride web sites.
Originally from Albuquerque, Jaelyn deMaria earned a B.A. in journalism and mass communication from New Mexico State University (2002) with a supplementary major in law and society (NMSU’s pre-law program) and an emphasis in sociology. Jaelyn earned an M.A. from the University of New Mexico in American studies (2004) with distinction. Her thesis, titled, “Urban Homeland: An Exploration of Albuquerque’s Martineztown/Santa Barbara Community,” uses a documentary studies approach, including documentary photography, to explore methods of community organization. Jaelyn has also worked for several years as a staff photographer at the state’s largest newspaper. She is also the recipient of the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute’s Land Grant Studies Fellowship. Her research interests include intercultural communication, mass communication, ritual behavior, border studies and social organization around human rights issues. She is a documentary photojournalist and multimedia producer.
Soumia is from Calcutta, India. She earned her M.A.
in communication from the University of Madras (2003) and was recognized
as top student in her graduating class. Soumia worked thereafter as
lecturer at the University of Madras until 2005 teaching courses in
writing for electronic media, communication and media theory, and
information and communication technologies. At the University of New
Mexico, her area of emphasis is media and intercultural/international
communication. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, Soumia
studies the role of the
Originally from southern California, Elizabeth earned her B.A. in 1996 from CSUSB in organizational com and her M.A. in 1998 from NMSU in intercultural com and social change. Her research interests center on com and culture with an emphasis in nature, human-nature relationships,consumption, discourse, and simulation. She uses critical, rhetorical, and interpretive perspectives to examine how humans construct knowledge and meaning about nature and how power, systems, and histories influence these perceptions. Other interests include gender and popular culture. She has presented 15 national and regional conference papers. Elizabeth was awarded the top student paper award in the Com Theory Division at WSCA in 2007 and the top four papers in the Environmental Com Division at NCA in 2008. She has taught in com departments in New Mexico, Florida, Beijing, and online, and worked as a teacher in Japan for two years. She has taught fundamentals, public speaking, nonverbal, business and professional, conflict, persuasion, intercultural, interpersonal, and I-TARC. In 2008 she won the Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding University TA Award at UNM. See Elizabeth's homepage www.unm.edu/~edickins. See Elizabeth's curriculum vitae.
Haibin graduated with a B.A.in English literature from Northwest University located in Xi'an Shaanxi, China, which is also his hometown and birthplace. Haibin received his M.A. in international management from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Currently, he is working on a project visualizing the complexity of cultural identity and identification process by a metaphorical model. Haibin believes in common sense, which constitute culture, reinforce ideology, inform sciences, and vary in directions, styles, forms, and appearances. Haibin hopes that his study of visual phenomenon in culture and communication will provide a path toward the revelation of the connection between common sense and scientific knowledge.
Courtney graduated in August 2005 with an M.A. in communication theory and research from West Virginia University, where she worked closely with Melanie Booth-Butterfield. Before beginning her doctoral program at UNM, Courtney taught public speaking, advanced public speaking, and interpersonal communication at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and she currently teaches small group communication and persuasion at UNM. Courtney's research interests include health communication, intercultural communication, international affairs, and political communication. Her thesis, titled "Communication Patterns Following the Acquisition of a Sexually Transmitted Infection," was based on data collected from 78 students who reported having had an STI. She has presented her research at various National Communication Association and Eastern Communication Association conventions. Courtney was selected by Harvard University's international development program to spend two months during summer 2006 in South Africa. While there, she lived with a Cape Town family and taught English to disadvantaged students. Courtney hopes to one day work for the United States government in foreign affairs.
Eudaline is originally from Yaounde, Cameroon. Prior to her studies in the doctoral program at UNM, she received her B.A. from Henderson State University and her M.S. in communication from Illinois State University. Patricia's current research interests are in intercultural and health communication. She is particularly interested in patient and health care provider communication and the influence of culture during the communication process. Besides her research interest, Patricia has worked as a public speaking instructor at Illinois State University, and she is now teaching small group communication at UNM. During her free time, Patricia likes to research the use of faith and the patients' physical, emotional and spiritual outcomes.
Sara comes to UNM from Dallas, Texas. She earned her B.A. in 2002 at the University of North Texas, with a double major in French and communication studies. She completed an M.A. in communication studies in August 2007. Sara's research interests focus on media, gender, and culture, particularly the influence of gendered values represented in television programs broadcast to international audiences. Sara has presented papers at student and national conferences on gendered stereotypes in the media and will be presenting conference papers at NCA this year in gendered stereotypes in reality television, online courses, and social change programs within the theatre. She teaches media theory and influence. See Sara's curriculum vitae.
Willow is a native of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. She holds a B.A. in political science and history from Mount Allison University and, thanks to a Rotary International Paul P. Harris Ambassadorial scholarship, was able to pursue her M.A. in conflict resolution from the University of Bradford, England, in 1999. Willow served as a delegate of the Japanese government-run program Ship for World Youth in 1997 and later returned to Japan leading the Canadian delegation to the 21st Century Renaissance Youth Leaders Invitation Program in 2003. Willow’s research interests include intercultural communication, conflict resolution, and immigration and settlement issues. In her spare time she loves cooking, berry picking, hiking, exploring food and craft markets and quilting. See Willow’s curriculum vitae.
Holly holds an MBA-International with emphasis on
intercultural management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management
in Arizona. Holly's career of more than 20 years in intercultural
communication in Japan has been in
Lissa received her M.P.H. from CSU-Northridge with an emphasis in health education. She focuses on health communication and her policy areas of interest include decreasing health disparities, specifically for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness. Lissa has more than 10 years of community health instruction experience and has been involved in public health advocacy for the last four years. In 2007 Lissa drafted and successfully lobbied for legislation, mandating that employers provide a private clean space and flexible break times for their employee-mothers to use a breast pump. This legislation is expected to improve breastfeeding rates across the state and have tremendous impact on the health of New Mexico's children. In the area of mental illness stigma reduction, Lissa examines how mental illness stigma is enacted in discourse and how disclosure of treatment history can act as a stigma reduction strategy. She is working on projects that examine how police officers construct severe mental illness, applying agenda-setting theory to newspaper representations of mental illness, conducting rhetorical analyses of arguments against lactation spaces in academic settings, and assessing relationships between infant nutrition choices and women's voices. In 2007 Lissa received the University of New Mexico Volunteer Service Award and the American Public Health Association's inaugural Trong Ngyuen Health Policy Scholarship. She is also a recipient of the California State University Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive Program. Lissa is an instructor for the combined UNM BA/MD Program and the UNM Research Service Learning Program . She has experience teaching intercultural communication, small group communication, public speaking, business and professional speaking, and public health program planning. She also enjoys watching independent movies, participating in community service projects, going to local farmers markets and co-parenting her nearly 3-year-old daughter. See Lissa's curriculum vitae.
Marianne holds an M.A. in international and intercultural communication from the University of Denver and a B.A. in Spanish and international studies from Santa Clara University. Her research interests include the relationship between culture, identity negotiation, and communication, and the ways in which intercultural interaction, discourse, and power structures work to construct cultural representations, specifically within the context of virtual reality. Her book chapter (with E. Hudson) titled "Culture, Organization, and Contradiction in the Social Construction of Technology: Adoption and Use of the Cell Phone Across Three Cultures" is part of the edited volume The Cell Phone: History, Technology, Culture. Currently, she is working on two pieces for publication: the first is related to international organizational role stereotypes, and a second piece is related to talk about identity and representation on the social networking site MySpace. Additionally, Marianne helped to complete a study on the effectiveness of an education program entitled "Journeys in Film." She has presented papers at numerous national and regional conferences. In addition to teaching public speaking, language, thought, and behavior, a graduate course in teaching the basics, and nonverbal communication at UNM, Marianne also taught courses in computer mediated communication at Portland State University and online. See Marianne's curriculum vitae.
Benjamin is a doctoral student in the mass communication and culture concentration. He has a B.S. in film from Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts and an M.A. in communication from the University of New Mexico. His research interests include media culture, identity, and critical theory, and he is a strong proponent of mixed method research. He has presented papers on such diverse topics as CMM, reality TV, and identity theft advertising, and he is currently working on a theory of identity construction in the media. He is also addicted to science fiction film and television and is writing a book on the history and rhetoric of the genre. Benjamin chose UNM for the academic community and the breadth of opportunities for teaching and community service, and his goal is a tenure track position at a research university. See Ben's curriculum vitae.
Una descends from the original Taos and Chimayo Medinas. She received her B.A. (summa cum laude) and M.A. in health communication (with distinction) at UNM. She completed coursework in complex systems theory and modeling at New England Complex Systems Institute at MIT, and she earned a graduate certificate in computer modeling at Portland State University Systems Science Department. Una earned top paper awards at NCA and WSCA. Her innovative projects include an analytic equation that predicts small group persuasion, algorithms for an agent-based model of creation, full adoption, and dissolution thresholds for different network topologies (patent pending), Monte Carlo simulation predicting UNM baccalaureate graduates by major until 2054, and a multi-scale model of terrorist cell activities and their support networks. Una's dissertation, " MADD Message Effects: A Ten-Year Randomized Controlled Trial," examines long-term message effects of MADD victim impact panels upon DWI offenders, using content analysis, survival analysis, hierarchical linear modeling, genetic algorithms, and systems dynamics. As a Ronald E. McNair scholar, Una innovated public-private partnerships that have empowered thousands of low-income New Mexicans and Texans. See Una's curriculum vitae.
Satoshi Moriizumi is originally from Nagano, Japan. He obtained his M.A. in English language education from Nanzan University in 1997, and in social psychology from Nagoya University in 2006. Before joining the doctoral program at UNM, he was teaching English communication and intercultural communication courses in the English Department in Nanzan Junior College in Nagoya, Japan for seven years. His research interests include interpersonal and intercultural communication in general and interpersonal conflict management styles across cultures in particular. He has presented his reseach at various communication associations, including NCA and WSCA, and social psychology associations, including Society for Social Psychology, Asian Association for Social Psychology, Japanese Association of Social psychology. He has published his research on Japanese conflict management styles in journals such as Intercultural Communication Studies, and Human Communication Studies (Journal of Communication Association of Japan).
Originally from Houston, Texas, Anjana attended college in Bangalore, India, graduating with a BA.LLB. (Bachelor of Arts and Law) from the National Law School of India. She then returned to the U.S. and earned an M.A. in communication studies from Ohio University. Before joining the Ph.D. program at New Mexico, she worked as a legal coordinator for a software company, coordinating immigration for foreign national employees. She also taught a course in race, ethnicity and communication at the University of Houston-Downtown, a nontraditional urban campus. Her research interests include intercultural communication, multicultural identity construction, and whiteness, including in the context of higher education. She has presented papers at the National Communication Association (NCA) Conference and at the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (OSCLG) Conference.
Consolata is originally from Kenya where she earned her B.A. degree in linguistics from Moi University, Eldoret, in 2002. In 2007, she graduated with an M.A in organizational communication from Kean University, Union, N.J.. She then taught a course in public speaking at Kean University before joining UNM in the fall of 2008. She has presented papers at the New Jersey Communication Association Conference. Her area of emphasis is intercultural communication with special interest in gender, identity and how propaganda shapes conflict in ethnically diverse nations and communities. She is pursuing her Ph.D. and teaches interviewing at UNM. See Consolata's curriculum vitae.
Jessica originally hails from the Chicago area. She attended Eastern Illinois University and received her B.A. in speech communication with a minor in health communication. Jessica continued her studies at Eastern Illinois University and completed her M.A. in communication studies. Jessica was the first student to pioneer the Community College Pedagogy Option, an innovation program designed by the communication department to provide a concentration on pedagogical techniques and an internship at a community college. During her final year in the M.A. program, Jessica was chosen as the Distinguished Graduate Student in Communication Studies. After teaching at multiple community colleges in the Chicago area, Jessica was hired as a full-time instructor at Bowling Green State University. In addition to her teaching experience in public speaking, Jessica has had the opportunity to teach human communication, interpersonal communication, leadership and communication, and communication and conflict. She also served as the interim basic course director at Bowling Green State University. At UNM, she is teaching communication in organizations. Jessica is interested in studying and researching gender, race, and ethnicity from a critical perspective. She has presented papers related to these issues at the National Communication Association, the Eastern Communication Association, and the Central States Communication Association. See Jessica's curriculum vitae.
Hannah graduated with an M.A. in management from Hamline University in 2005. Before beginning her doctoral studies at UNM, Hannah was employed as the director of multicultural affairs at Inver Hills Community College in Minnesota. She has consulted on diversity issues and the recruitment and retention of students of color in higher education. Between 2002-2004, Hannah served as a program coordinator in an urban immersion retreat program, producing educational programs on issues of urban poverty, equity, and social justice. Hannah was named an Associated Colleges of the Midwest Scholar in the summer of 2001, allowing her to conduct research on West African immigration. Her research interests center on issues of power, diversity and education and post-colonialism. See her curriculum vitae.
Audrey comes to the field of communication after working for more than a decade in adult literacy and ESL. She earned an M.A. in organizational learning/instructional technology from UNM. In 1994, she founded Plain Language Works, a health literacy and plain language consulting and training firm. Her firm has received six NIH Plain Language awards since 2005. She has presented at many national conferences, receiving a first place award for a poster presentation at the American Academy of Family Physicians Patient Education Conference (2004). Her goal is to address the mismatch between the health literacy skills of U.S. adults and the health literacy demands of health systems and life in our society. Her research interests include finding ways to address health literacy as a public health issue and examining power structures in the health care setting. Audrey plans to contribute to the field by researching ways to more effectively meet the information needs of U.S. adults with less than a college education. See Audrey's curriculum vitae.
Iliana is originally from San Diego, Calif. She holds a B.A. in communication studies and African-American studies from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Iliana attended DePaul University in Chicago, where she received an M.A. in multicultural communication. While at DePaul, she taught intercultural communication and worked at the campus office for students with learning disabilities and ADHD. Iliana's academic interests include intercultural communication, the relationship between language and culture, as well as cultural identity. She often focuses her research on hybridity, mixed-race identity, and multicultural media representations in popular culture. She has presented at ICA on biracial media representations and will present at NCA on Afrocentricty in the controversial television cartoon The Boondocks. Iliana has taught interviewing, intercultural, and nonverbal communication courses and is teaching language, thought and behavior
Jennifer is a native Californian who most recently
lived in Los Angeles after completing a Master’s of Dispute
Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law in 2003. She worked
for the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution in numerous capacities
and was involved in many projects such as the development of the Asian
Dispute Resolution Studies program. Prior to beginning her Ph.D. program,
Jennifer spent several years as an instructor in the communication
division at Pepperdine’s Seaver College where she taught courses
in intercultural communication, conflict, international negotiation
and interpersonal communication. She continues an association with
a small communication consulting firm based in the L.A. area and contributes
to work in executive coaching and development of new training material
and workshops.
Sachi Sekimoto is pursuing her Ph.D. in intercultural communication with an emphasis on critical theory and cultural studies. Her research interests include globalization, nationalism and postcolonialism. She uses poststructural and postmodern perspectives in her theoretical and methodological approach. She received International Communication Association Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award in 2008. She teaches various communication and other interdisciplinary courses including intercultural communication, women's studies, and public speaking.
Divya graduated with an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri and has a B.A. in English from Madras University, India. Her current research interests are influenced by her professional experience in developing advertising and public relations campaigns in India, and her personal interest in reducing health disparities. Working as a research assistant at The Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions, she is currently examining culture-specific barriers to addictions treatment experienced by select Native Americans. Her dissertation will examine the family-environmental determinants of children's fruit and vegetable consumption in Hispanic family households. She has also conducted focus groups and narrative analysis of entertainment-education (E-E) films to understand the mechanisms by which E-E narratives have their effects. She seeks to further her research goal of identifying causes of health disparities for individuals, families and communities, and to develop and implement health communication interventions to reduce these disparities. She has taught intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, public speaking, and cross-cultural journalism.
Judith Stauber received a B.S. in communication with an emphasis on organization and visual communication from Ithaca College, and an M.A in women's studies with an emphasis on visual communication from Ohio State University. Judith taught a course entitled "Communication in Culturally Diverse Organizations" for three years at Ithaca College. Current doctoral study at UNM is focused on intercultural and visual communication. Her research is in the area of intercultural communication and explores concepts of identity, community, cultural geography, travel, and narrative. Judith has traveled extensively around the world, photographing Jewish communities and facilitating university-based cultural travel programs. Judith developed and led a Jewish social justice service, learning leadership experience in Havana, Cuba, and has led numerous trips to Israel for university students and young professionals through her professional association with Hillel the Foundation or Jewish Campus Life. Over the past decade, Judith has worked in campus life as a Hillel staff professional at Cornell University, Syracuse University, and SUNY Buffalo. Judith is executive director of Hillel at UNM.
Chie received her M.A. in communication studies from Seinan Gakuin University in Japan in 2005. While completing her M.A., Chie worked closely with Dr. Tadasu Imahori in areas of intercultural communication and identity management. Her thesis was titled "Rule Convergence Regarding Conflict Resolution in Intracultural and Intercultural Romantic Couples in Japan." Chie's primary research interests include intercultural communication, cultural identities, construction of race-related ideologies in discourses, and interracial/interethnic relationships. She has presented five conference papers, including "Intercultural romantic relationships: Dialectical approach." (WSCA, 2007) and "Negotiating the 'Real' in cyber space: An analysis of the underlying dynamics of Zainichi Korean and Japanese online discourses " (ICA 2007). Chie received a Fulbright Scholarship in 2005.
Bhavana is pursuing interdisciplinary research in intercultural communication, gender studies, and religious studies. Her focus is on women followers in spiritual groups and the ways by which spirituality may facilitate gender communication across cultural lines. Her approach to feminism can be best described as Gandhian feminism, which borrows heavily from spiritual traditions; Gandhian philosophy; values of power feminism; and peace studies. She blends this approach with an Asia-centric view of communication, which is anchored in the ethic that harmony is vital for the survival of all. In her other activities, Bhavana is committed to the principle of being a public intellectual and is involved in social activism in many fronts. In her teaching, she works with the Research Service Learning Program in developing service-learning curriculum, and she has taught several courses in conjunction with different neighborhoods and community organizations around the campus. She works closely the East Indian community, graduate students of color, and Asian family center. In her leisure time, she enjoys hiking, world music, and ancient dance forms. See Bhavana's curriculum vitae.
Lynn is originally from Los Angeles, Calif., but has been a New Mexico resident since 1980. She received her B.F.A. from Cooper Union and her M.S. in health education from the University of New Mexico in 2003. Lynn Walters' primary area of study is health education, with a focus on prevention research, and keen interests in nonverbal communication, experiential pedagogy, and program evaluation. Lynn is founder and executive director of an experiential food and nutrition education program that engages elementary school students in hands-on learning with fresh affordable foods from diverse cultures. She is co-project director for a four-year research and extension project funded by USDA in 2006: "Cooking with Kids: Integrating Classroom, Cafeteria and Family Experiences." Her program website is at www.cookingwithkids.net.
Olga received a B.A. in communication studies from CSU, Stanislaus, and an M.A. from San Francisco State. Olga's research interests focus on cultural mechanisms of normalization and non-violent methods of resistance. Using a variety of qualitative methods, she investigates how culture affects what people consider normal, acceptable, or desirable (especially in relation to gender and sexuality) and how, at specific sociocultural conjunctures, those ideological prescriptions do not become articulated. Due to her cultural heritage, Olga concentrates predominantly on Russia. Olga's previous research projects include studies on perceptions of Russian women on feminism; Russian masculinities; (re)construction of (homo)sexuality in the country; analysis of the intersection of gender, nationality, and social class in articulations of identities of Russian elite women; female sex tourism; patterns of production and distribution of social and cultural knowledge in the media; cultural pedagogy; and diasporic communities. Many of these studies were presented at regional, national, and international conferences. Olga is also interested in critical and feminist pedagogy.
Abdissa is a third-year doctoral student. He is originally from Ethiopia. Prior to joining UNM as a doctoral student, he completed an M.A. in TESOL at the University of Stirling in the U.K. He also earned an M.A. in communication at Eastern Illinois University. While in Ethiopia, he taught English as a second language courses at the Awassa College of Agriculture, and later at Debub University. He also served as a department chair and faculty dean at Debub University. Here at UNM, he has taught public speaking and Freshman Learning Community classes. His area of study includes mass communication and intercultural communication, and his research interests include media representation, and the intersection between media, civil society and democracy, and issues related to global media. He chose UNM because of its unparalleled diversity, Albuquerque's beautiful weather and the area's majestic landscape. In his spare time, he likes reading reading and reflecting. Upon the completion of his study, Abdissa intends to hold a faculty position or work in organizations such as the UN and OU. |
Jessica
Nodulman
Divya
Sreenivas
Judith
Stauber 
![[UNM Logo]](../graphics/unmlogo.gif) |
|
Top of Page || C&J Main Page || College of Arts and Sciences |