My research interests centre around explaining complex phenomenon using relatable concepts and constructs. The projects that I explore are interdisciplinary in nature, bridging multiple disciplines including media studies, health communication, law and public policy, and identity studies.
Popular Culture as a Cultural Lens
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When used as a tool for storytelling, popular culture provides education through the form of vicarious lived experience. It can be used to both perpetuate and dispel myths and stereotypes.
In the context of the latter, my doctoral research explores how popular culture – and in particular, the use of the monster metaphor – can be used as a tool for understanding and reducing stigma encountered by people living with chronic illness and disease. Using the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series as a case study, I examine and draw parallels between the world-building that exists in series with the medical, legal and social institutions that exist outside of it.
The Construction of Identity and Community through Music, Film and Other Forms of Media
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I am also interested in how popular culture influences the construction of individual and group identity.
Through an examination of the videos published on its YouTube Channel, I have completed and published a paper exploring how the hacker group Anonymous uses issues-based collective identity narratives to mobilize and sustain. In addition, I am also in the process of revising and resubmitting a journal article reporting the findings from autoethnographic research that I conducted at the 50th edition of San Diego Comic-Con undertaken in 2019, which examines the intersection of tattoo and fandom cultures.
Most recently, I have begun a research project to better understand the role of social, cultural and symbolic capital in the success of musical entrepreneurs. Using Jamaican dancehall artist Sean Paul as a case study, I explore how artists from seemingly niche genres leverage these types of resources to reach international audiences and achieve worldwide success.
Communications Policy and Law
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I also conduct research that sits at the intersection of law and communications policy. In 2021, I published an article comparing the law of freedom of expression (available to all Canadians) and the principle of freedom of speech (available to legislative members) in order to determine whether these principles are in conflict with one another.