about me
I research and write about the intersection of film, culture, and history.
My research interests include classical American cinema (roughly 1920-1960), the Hollywood Studio System (as a business and cultural force), and the history of theatrical exhibition (moviegoing). I am also keenly interested in the material cultures of film, cinematic technology, and film music. I enjoy thinking and writing about silent cinema, queer cinema, and genre.
My research seeks to answer questions like: What do films tell us about the cultural anxieties of their period of production? How does filmgoing function as a social and business practice? Or, how do films textually function at the level of the image?
I attended both American University and the University of Maryland Global Campus as a non-traditional undergraduate student. At American, I completed a major in history (4.0 GPA) with a minor in cinema studies (3.99 GPA).
Throughout my undergrad career, I received numerous awards and honors. I placed on both AU and UMGC’s Dean’s List each semester between 2020 and 2023. Prior to graduation, I was honored by the American University College of Arts and Sciences Department of History with the Anna Kasten Nelson Award for Excellence in History. I was also selected to present research about Western films and the Cold War, “Hidden History: High Noon, the Cold War, and the Interrogation of the American Identity,” at the 33rd Annual Robyn Rafferty Mathias Research Conference. In 2022, the AU College of Arts and Sciences Department of Literature selected my essay, “‘The Mirror’s Spooky Surface’: Get Out, Trauma, and America’s Peculiar Institution,” as Best Essay by an Undergraduate Student.
Before returning to school, I ran operations for anything from movie theaters to municipal technology startups. At Landmark Theatres I standardized theater operations, curated concessions and bar menus, and helped program midnight movies. As Chief of Staff for companies like UrbanStems and OurStreets, I helped founders raise millions in venture capital, expanded markets, and built novel products to tackle big problems.