What is your current position, and what is your favorite aspect of your job?

I am a part-time journalism instructor in the Department of Media, Journalism, and Film at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where I teach journalism students the fundamentals of news reporting and writing. I also teach, mentor, and support first-year students as a full-time librarian at Miami University Libraries. I really enjoy doing research and supporting students and I get to do a lot of that in my role.

What inspired you to write “Boundary Work, Specialized Accreditation for Journalism, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,” which won the second-place faculty paper award at AEJMC 2023?

My dissertation advisor Mike Conway at Indiana University introduced me to the boundary work framework. I thought it would be interesting to apply that framework to the history of journalism education, and the development of specialized accreditation. But then I just sort of stumbled upon this legal dispute between a newspaper in Jackson, Tennessee, and the federal government over the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Then I started seeing this court case get referenced in primary documents. So, it just sort of came together. Boundary work, specialized accreditation for journalism, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Are you currently working on, or planning, any research projects?

I have a paper about the history of credentialing in journalism education that will appear in the Fall 2023 issue of the Journal of 20th Century Media History. Of course I hope to see this paper that I presented at AEJMC published somewhere, too. I am working on a few other projects as well. One related to journalism history and one related to news literacy.

Fun fact about yourself?
When I was in third grade I won a book report contest and presented my book report on the PBS show Reading Rainbow.