People are at the center of what I do.
With a leader of the Penny Lane Centers organization, for their Rise Up conference on racial justice in September 2022.
With a leader of the Penny Lane Centers organization, for their Rise Up conference on racial justice in September 2022.
With faculty members at Imperial Valley College, to celebrate the launch of antiracist, student-centered pedagogy projects for Fall 2022.
With faculty members at Imperial Valley College, to celebrate the launch of antiracist, student-centered pedagogy projects for Fall 2022.

Video Ethnography + Communication

Interviews and participant observation are at the center of my ethnographic practice. Recent on-site research has taken me to Micronesia and Jordan. I have also designed and implemented surveys to support program evaluation, and written about the challenges and joys of multilingual communication. 

Study Abroad in Jordan: An Arabic #LanguageStory

(2018). 10 mins. Arabic with English subtitles. ​This brief documentary presents a little understood aspect of study abroad: the use of the target language among learners beyond the classroom. While the central storyline follows Laye and Erica as they take new pics for Instagram, interviews address race and gender as part of their experience living abroad in the Middle East. ​​All postproduction completed on iPad.
Picture
View of the first page of my "A Fish Tale" narrative article (2022) on communication and research in Micronesia and Tanzania. The article includes abstracts (summaries) in Pohnpeian, Swahili, and Korean languages, and is available through the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL). Click the image to go to ARAL's website, or please contact me for a copy!

More Digital Storytelling

Photo: Video clip
Click on image for link to video.

Why? ليش؟  [Lesh?]

(2014). 6 mins. Arabic with English subtitles. While in Amman, Jordan, I was inspired by the repeated use of Lesh? by Arabic learners as both a question and one-word commentary on social situations. When we tried hailing a taxi, and it would pass us by without stopping, they would question Why? indicating their dissatisfaction, but also the awkwardness of the situation. The documentary includes footage of our journey with a charismatic taxi driver.

This video was an important first, because I involved participants in verifying the subtitled translations I created during postproduction while in Jordan. The video was screened in Amman, Jordan, and Middlebury, VT. All postproduction completed on iPad.
More than a decade ago, I used to arrange photos and .wmv files to create fun DVDs for close friends and family after study abroad and road trips. Now, I work with a variety of digital editing platforms to  share with audiences what I'm learning from people and places that inspire me. I also use digital storytelling as a critical pedagogy with students.  

Voices/ Voces in the Field: AfroCuba

(2017). 6 mins. English and Spanish. This documentary video follows a team of U.S.-based student researchers who journeyed to Havana and Santiago de Cuba to learn from locals. Students speak in their own words, along with insights from the faculty/staff team that guided their learning. ​​Postproduction completed on iPad and MacBook Pro.