“Words are overrated.”
Myself
Though I was born and raised in the heart of Western Europe, my heart is American.
After an exchange year in Albuquerque, NM, I earned a B. A. in translation (Russian to French and Spanish to French). I then moved to Russia for some time, before earning a Master’s degree in multilingual communication (French, English, Russian, Spanish), with a minor in international relations back in Belgium. This is when, after spending most of my life studying languages, that I found an undying passion for visual communication. When I had sworn I would never go back to school after my B. A., I found myself enthralled with the research process and decided to make it my career.
I interned at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Relations (GFSIS) in Tbilisi while working on my M. A. thesis, titled The Influence of Photography on International Relations. I then worked on my Ph.D. at Texas Tech University. I defended my dissertation, titled Iconic images as Elite Spectacles: Religious Symbolism and Postmodernism in the (Dis)Service of Power, in June 2023.
Between 2023 and 2025, I worked as an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at East Texas A&M, in Commerce, TX. I taught courses such as Introduction to Communication, Visual Communication, Political Communication, Popular Culture, and Intercultural Communication. Today, I live in Socorro, NM, with my husband, daughter, and cat. I work as an Assistant Professor of Technical Communication at New Mexico Tech. I teach courses on Visual Communication, Web Design, and Branding. During my free time, I enjoy knitting, reading, baking, and hiking and camping, primarily in the American Southwest.