Education:
PhD Candidate, Women's Studies, University of California-Los Angeles
 
BA, Women's Studies and Politics, University of California-Santa Cruz (2002)
Honors/Awards: College Honors, Highest Honors in Women’s Studies and Honors in Politics, Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research (2002)
 
Teaching/Research Interests:
Popular Media and Visual Culture, Sexuality and LGBT Studies, Queer Theory, Embodiment, Feminist Theory, Science and Technology Studies

Dissertation Committee:
Co-Chair: Professor Rachel Lee
Co-Chair: Professor Kathleen McHugh
Professor Abigail Saguy
Professor Douglas Kellner

Dissertation Research:
"The Uncertainty of Pleasure/The Pleasure of Uncertainty: Orgasm and the History of Ecstatic Expression"

Fellowships/Scholarships:
Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Fellowship, UCLA, 2006
Chancellor’s Graduate Fellowship, UC-Los Angeles, 2003-Present
Hartcourt Brace Scholarship, UC-Santa Cruz, 1998-2002

Teaching Experience:
Instructor, Introduction to Women's Studies, Summer 2009 (UCLA)
Instructor, Pornography in Contemporary U.S. Culture, Spring 2009 (UCLA)
Instructor, Gender, Sexuality, and Media, Summer 2008 (UCLA)
Instructor, Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture, Spring 2008 (UCLA)
Instructor, Gender, Sexuality, and Media, Summer 2007 (UCLA)
Instructor, Sexualized Identities, Spring 2007 (UCLA)
Teaching Fellow, Sex: Biology to Gendered Society, Fall 2006/Winter 2007(UCLA)
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Women’s Studies, Spring 2006 (UCLA)
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Women’s Studies, Winter 2005 (UCLA)
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Women’s Studies, Fall 2004 (UCLA)
Reader, The Sexual and Racial Politics of Popular Music, Spring 2004 (UCLA)
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Feminism, Fall 2001 (UCSC)

Articles/ Manuscripts Under Review
“Pantomimes of Ecstasy: BeautifulAgony.com and the Representation of Pleasure” (forthcoming, Camera Obscura, Duke University Press, Issue 73, 2010)

“Coming Out as Fat: Reclaiming and Inverting Stigma.” (Co-authored with Professor Abigail C. Saguy, Under Review with Social Psychology Quarterly)

“Staying Alive is as Good as it Gets: The New Survivalism in Popular Culture” (In preparation)

Conferences/Presentations:

Co-authored Paper Delivered by Professor Abigail C. Saguy, “How Culture Travels: The Case of 'Coming Out' as 'Fat’” American Sociological Association Annual Conference (August 2007)

Guest Lecture, "Queer Representations in Popular Culture," WMST M149, May 2007

Conference Presentation, "I Can See it in Your Face: BeautifulAgony.com and the Representation of Pleasure," Sustainable Directions in Feminist Research Graduate Conference, March 2007

Conference Presentation, “ 'Only That Which Never Ceases to Hurt' : The Question of Resentment in Women’s Studies," Thinking Gender Graduate Student Conference, February 2007

Guest Lecture, “The World Wide Web and Media Literacy,” WMST 178, January 2007

Plenary Speaker,  “I Can See it in Your Face: BeautifulAgony.com and the Representation of Pleasure,” Thinking Gender Graduate Student Conference, March 2006.

Moderator, "Queer Exchanges" Panel, Gendered Transnationalisms Graduate Student Conference, May 2005