I took a roundabout way into the worlds of both communication studies and storytelling and often say I “fell into” them after starting my studies at The University of Alabama with English Literature and Creative Writing. While at Bama, I also received my M.A. with a focus on interpersonal and intercultural communication (with Dr. Robin Boylorn). Eventually, I wanted to put my love of performing, story, critical theory, and creative writing together, and I sought out a Ph.D. in performance studies at Southern Illinois University (with Dr. Craig Gingrich-Philbrook). As a scholar-artist, my work takes place on the page and on the stage, through storytelling, performance, autoethnography, poetry, and more. Most of my writing, telling, and performance work focuses on the intersectionality of being an LGBTQIA+ Southerner, through personal stories; through mediated representations; through relational storytelling; and through qualitative, interview-based research work. I am thrilled to join ETSU and The Department of Communication Studies and Storytelling as the director of our storytelling program because I think the program is such a unique offering that really speaks to the culture, region, and people of ETSU. And I’m always happy to talk to students (or anyone, really) about what our unique focus on the art and practice of storytelling can offer! 

Teaching Focus

I teach active, workshop-oriented, practice-focused courses in storytelling. My personal interest is in the intersectionality of interpersonal communication, pop culture, gender and identity, and personal narratives and how they influence the stories we tell.

• • STOR 2500 Introduction to Storytelling 

Scholarly Interests / Punblications

My scholarship is primarily interested in ways to narrate and make legible to complex experiences of LGBTQIA+ folks, particularly in the U.S. South. While much of my work happens in ephemeral ways, such as live performance, I also publish work within this line of inquiry—with additional interests in critical media studies, pedagogy, performance methods, etc. I have published in Text & Performance Quarterly, The Journal of Autoethnography, Qualitative Inquiry, Art/Research International,  Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, and more alongside a number of invited and/or peer-reviewed book chapters. 

Click Here for a Complete List of Publications

On A More Personal Note . . .

I have a dog named Archer, he is a giant, brown, wall-eyed Boston terrier who loves it in Johnson City because our backyard got a huge upgrade when we moved. I am a pop culture aficionado, and I watch entirely too much television. If you know of a streaming service, chances are I either have it or have had it before. Also—as people here have noticed—I have a large collection of printed button-down shirts.