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I'm a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University teaching digital and data-driven media skills and concepts. I completed Ph.D. studies in Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Texas at Austin in May 2005. At UT, I focused on the effects of the Internet on communication and culture. My dissertation, entitled "Gendered Spaces and Digital Discourse: Framing Women's Relationship with the Internet," dealt with the ways women's media and Web sites represent women's usage of the Internet. Prior to doctoral studies, I had a career in Marketing at Compaq Computer (now part of Hewlett Packard) in Houston and NCR Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. I have a Master of Business Administration from the University of Richmond and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2016, I founded the Media Innovation Lab and launched the new undergraduate major in Digital Media Innovation.

In 2020, I received Texas State's Presidential Award for Excellence in Service for Senior Faculty. In 2018 and 2019, I received the Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Excellence in Teaching Award at Texas State. In 2013, I was honored to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching at Texas State University and the AEJMC/Scripps Howard Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year award. During the 2013-2014 academic year, I was in residence at Stanford University in the Knight Journalism Fellowship program, where I worked on a platform to teach journalists how to code, CodeActually.com. Additional detail regarding my research, education and experience can be found throughout this site.

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Teaching

Here are the links to my course sites. Feel free to use the handouts and tutorials:

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Research

Throughout my career, I have focused on the areas of digital and data-driven media and how these topics relate to gender and pedagogy. I have been published in Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Social Science Computer Review, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, #ISOJ, Newspaper Research Journal, Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab and MediaShift. I also have several published book chapters and my dissertation Gendered Spaces and Digital Discourse: Framing Women's Relationship with the Internet was published in 2010.

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Professional

My professional activities include teaching, journalism, web design/development and experience in marketing, finance and sales at two major tech companies - NCR Corporation and Compaq Computer. I was the news editor and editor of the online newsletter for Texas Music Magazine and have written for Austin Business Journal. I am a co-founder of the Austin chapter of Hacks/Hackers and participated as a steering committee member for the launch of the News Product Alliance. In 2020, I published a report on the State of the News Product Community.

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Student Work

  • LoudAustin - student project finalist in Online Journalism Awards, 2015
  • SXTXState.com - Texas State graduate students have covered SXSW Interactive since 2008.
  • TXStateofChange.com - The story of Texas State's designation as Hispanic-Serving Institution; 2nd place, SPJ Region 8 Mark of Excellence, 2012.
  • TXST Mass Comm Week - Student coverage and social media for Texas State's annual Mass Comm Week conference.

Achievements

  • Texas State Alumni Association Teaching Award of Honor, 2022
  • Gene Barnwell Waugh Mentor Award, Women Communications of Austin, April 2021
  • Presidential Award for Excellence in Service, Texas State University, 2020
  • Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award, Texas State Nominee, 2019
  • Everette Swinney Faculty Senate Excellence in Teaching Award, Texas State, 2018 & 2019
  • PhDigital Bootcamp, $150,000 extension funded by Knight Foundation, 2019-2020
  • PhDigital Bootcamp, $75,000 funded by Knight Foundation, 2018
  • AEJMC/Scripps Howard Teacher of the Year, 2013
  • Online News Association Challenge Fund Grant, TexasMusicViz, $35,000 for curriculum projects, 2014
  • Online News Association Challenge Fund Grant, JSchool Collaborative, $35,000 for sensor curriculum projects
  • Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford, 2013-2014
  • Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, Texas State University, 2013
  • AEJMC/Knight Foundation Bridge Grants, 2011 & 2012 - $8,000 each year for course development in conjunction with a Knight News Challenge winner