I enjoy a lifelong fascination with media arts; most specifically journalism, digital storytelling and nonfiction television. My interests have expanded into academia, after an exciting career as an executive producer, director and entrepreneur in Los Angeles where my companies supplied content for many of the major networks and studios.  I also had the privilege of being an executive producer on the team that launched CNN.

Currently, I am a graduate teaching fellow at the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, where I am doctoral candidate in the Communication and Society Ph.D. program, with an outside emphasis in education. I will graduate this June.

I employ both quantitative and qualitative research methods to study discursive practices, relationships of power, and identity construction. My philosophical perspective is informed by American pragmatism and poststructuralism.

Much of my work is theoretically framed by:

Motivation Theories

Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2008), which addresses the social and environmental factors that affect intrinsic motivation.

Social Cognitive Theory  (Bandura, 1997)  Self-Efficacy is defined as one’s belief in his or her ability to succeed in specific situations.

Social Learning Theories

Communities of Practice (Lave & Wenger, 1989; Wenger 1991) Etienne Wenger summarizes (CoP) as “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”

Social Development Theory (Vygotsky, 1962)  Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) asserted that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development.

Discourse Studies

Critical Discourse Analysis  (Fairclough, 2001) CDA looks at the relationship between language and power.

Research Interests

My current research interests include:

Journalistic Learning - Educators seek to enhance all students’ critical thinking skills, provide opportunities for project-based learning, and to teach teamwork. These are the essential elements of journalism curricula.  Do scholastic journalism programs provide students with vital research, writing and presentation skills that will prove useful in any profession? I’m studying several unique programs where K-12 educators are using journalism to engage students and improve their overall language arts skills.

Mobile Media - How are smartphones and tablet devices transforming education? How is the iPad (and similar devices) altering publishing and media business models?

Participatory Media - Today, everyone has the power to publish. There are few barriers to competing with well-established media institutions. How are legacy media companies navigating in this new terrain, and negotiating their relationships with a newly empowered public?

Political Discourse - What are the possible implications of the increasing trend towards opinion-based journalism? What is the future of objective reporting? What happens in a democracy when the public chooses sources that match their preexisting ideologies?

Teaching Interests

My current teaching interests include:

Multimedia Journalism/Digital Storytelling, Mobile Media, and Digital Media Entrepreneurship

Consulting Expertise

Corporate, nonprofit and political media strategy; media content development, acquisition and production; media career design and talent management; media-related curricula development; and innovative learning methodologies.