I am the inaugural Chair and Professor
of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at
Gonzaga University and Editor of the
Journal of International and
Intercultural Communication. I was
Professor in the Department of
Communication Studies at the
University of Denver from 2006-2019. I
served as department chair, associate
chair, and director of graduate
studies at the University of
Denver. <br> In 2003 I
graduated from the Department of
Communication Studies at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill with an emphasis in Performance
Studies, and a secondary concentration
in queer Latina/o literature and
performance. Prior to earning my
doctorate at UNC-CH, I finished
undergraduate and master's degrees in
the Hugh Downs School of Human
Communication and Barrett Honors
College at Arizona State University. I
have published articles in several
journal including Text and Performance
Quarterly, Critical Studies in Media
Communication, Cultural Studies
<=> Critical Methodologies, The
Communication Review, Communication,
Culture, and Critique, Journal of
Communication Inquiry, Voces: A
Journal of Chicana and Latina Studies
(Now Chicana/Latina Studies), Latino
Studies, Review of Communication, and
the Journal of International and
Intercultural Communication. My book
Latina/o Communication Studies:
Theorizing Performance was published
by Peter Lang in 2007 as part of the
series on Critical Intercultural
Communication edited by Dr. Thomas
Nakayama. In 2015 I published
Monstrosity, Performance, and Race in
Contemporary Culture. I have also
co-edited several books. I was awarded
the 2009 Lilla A. Heston Award for
Outstanding Research in Oral
Interpretation and Performance by the
National Communication Association. In
2009 I was presented with the Out
Through the Mind Award for tenure
track faculty at the 4th Annual
LGBTQIA Gala at the University of
Denver. In 2010, I was selected
by the Latina/o Communication Studies
Division and La Raza Caucus of NCA as
the Latina/o Communication Studies
Scholar of the Year. The same year I
was also given the Outstanding Faculty
Award by the Center for Multicultural
Excellence at the University of
Denver. In 2014 I was awarded the
Provost's Champion of Change Award for
my Social Activism and Advocacy for
Inclusive Excellence at the University
of Denver. I received the Lambda Award
for outstanding contributions to the
LGBTQ community from the Caucus on Gay
and Lesbian Concerns of the National
Communication Association in November
2017. I received the Francine Merritt
Award from the Women's Caucus on NCA
in November 2018. I received the 2018
Outstanding Article Award, Feminist
and Women’s Studies Division of the
National Communication Association for
“From Failure to Allyship to Feminist
Solidarities: Negotiating Our
Privileges and Oppressions Across
Borders,” a Presidential Citation for
Exceptional Commitment to Social
Justice and Activism within the
National Communication Association,
and the 2018 Monograph of the Year
Award, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
Transgender, and Queer Communication
Studies Division of National
Communication Association for “Queer
Utopias and a (Feminist) Iranian
Vampire: A Critical Analysis of
Resistive Monstrosity in A Girl Walks
Home Alone at Night,” co-authored with
Shadee Abdi and published in Critical
Studies in Media Communication. In
November 2019 I received the Faculty
Mentorship Award from the Rhetorical
and Communication Theory Division of
the National Communication
Association.