Areas of Specialization

Rhetorical studies, public rhetorics, ethnography, urban and spatial theory, political theory, public sphere theory, rhetoric and composition, pedagogical theory and practice, service learning and engaged scholarship

Activities and Interests

I am interested in the relationship between the rhetorical and the material. I see the melding of rhetorical inquiry and ethnography as a viable method for studying rhetoric–in-action and the connections between discourse and the built environment. My current fieldwork examines how stakeholders in a gentrifying neighborhood mobilize democratic rhetoric (to very different ends) around affordable housing developments, community policing initiatives, and other contested public spaces. I am drawn to research and pedagogical outcomes that connect with, learn from, and contribute to public life and local communities.