writer | editor | researcher
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
Oct. 2020 - Present
Since October 2020 I have been supporting a faculty member in pursuit of her research question. The purpose of the study is to examine students’ experiences before the course and their perceptions at the end of the course regarding the course’s effectiveness in preparing them for future interactions with people whose religious and philosophical worldviews may differ from their own.
I work independently to construct a comprehensive literature review, analyze quantitative data and collect qualitative data from participants. I am CITI certified to conduct human-based research and, acting in accordance with Institutional Review Board guidelines, administer informed consent documents and interview participants that confirm consent.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Aug. 2019 - Dec. 2019
For an ethnographic methods course I became CITI certified and conducted research with university administrators who work in USU's Office of Equity. I used mixed methods to synthesize autoethnographic accounts with the experiences of administrators working on the subject of campus sexual misconduct, attempting to identify common threads.
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This research was presented at the 2020 Utah Conference for Undergraduate Research (UCUR) & the 2019 Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium.
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Abstract:
Over the past ten years, a growing national discourse about the issue of campus sexual assault has led to an increase in quantitative studies that analyze its prevalence on campus as well as the effectiveness of campus policies that have been institutionalized in order to address the systemic issue. Policies that have emerged to describe sexual assault may use specialized vocabulary that appears distant from the terms used by survivors when self-identifying, which may result in unintended consequences when policies are implemented. Using Utah State University’s campus resources as a site of inquiry, this study examines language used by Title IX officers at Utah State University as they describe sexual and interpersonal violence among themselves, when addressing the student body, and among sexual assault survivors. Developed as part of a course in Ethnographic Methods at Utah State University, this qualitative study attempts to provide insight into this dynamic. Through a mixed-methods approach including ethnographic interviews and auto-ethnographic accounts of the author’s experiences attending and interacting with various campus institutions, a network of rhetorical themes emerges that contributes to a better understanding of how administrative experiences may intersect with the experiences of survivors in university spaces.