BRIEF BACKGROUND:

I was born and raised in Zambia, Sub-Saharan Africa. I am a doctoral student and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Journalism and Media Communication at CSU. I currently teach strategic writing and communication in the department. A first-generation student, I earned my bachelor’s in mass communication from the University of Zambia in 2021 and my Master of Science in media studies from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) in 2023.

I began my journalism career at the University of Zambia as a reporter and features editor. I eventually became the managing editor of the campus newspaper, the Lusaka Star. Since 2017, I have worked in journalism, media and communications for the Zambia Daily Mail in Zambia, Mediaschneider & Hoy AG in Switzerland, and the communications unit in the dean's office of the College of Arts and Sciences at SIUE in the United States. Before graduate school, I worked as a features journalist and opinion columnist for the Zambia Daily Mail.

MY DEVELOPING RESEARCH PROGRAM:

Research foci: Social media and democracy, journalism studies, and critical cultural studies

I am currently working on, and seeking collaboration in, the following:

Part one

My research program explores the intricate relationship between social media and democracy. The locus of my intellectual inquiry is rooted in social psychology and political theory. Through social psychology, I seek to understand how bias, a central construct in social science research, shapes the nature of contemporary forms of political engagement on large-scale social media platforms such as Facebook and X. I draw on political theory to understand how a broad range of variables such as social identity and resentment intertwine in highly networked environments to impact democracies. My research interests are currently concerned primarily with younger democracies in Africa such as Zambia, where my key research questions remain unanswered. This part of my research is quantitative, so I rely on survey methodology and content analysis to explore areas of interest. My goals under this armbit fall along the continuum of explanation, prediction, and control. My aim is to generate insights into social media and populism, and enhance our understanding of the relationship between burgeoning youth populations and the production of affective publics around specific "structures of feeling."

Part two

The second part of my research program deals with journalism and critical cultural studies. In journalism studies, my interests are motivated by my own prior experiences working in a precarious economic environment. Thus my investigations explore the political economy of news media vis-à-vis democracy. I also study enclaves of journalism culture such as exile journalism. In critical cultural studies, I am fascinated by the inner workings of race, gender, and class, and the role this series of social categories play in the creation of modern society. Indeed, I am interested in the study of power as an ominous form of domination. Using a broad range of theories (e.g., political economy and semiotic analysis) and methods (e.g., CTDA and thematic analysis), my work attempts to lay bare the underlying causes (and implications) of prevalent forms of inequality represented by today's media technologies. My ultimate goal is to provide compelling, robust critiques and interrogations of the matrix of domination in an attempt to aid the development of a praxis of liberation for subaltern groups.

SELECTED ACADEMIC & CAREER AWARDS:

• Winner of 2022 Carol Kimmel Scholarship, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 2022
• 2022 Nominee, Graduate Student Leader of the Year, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 2022
• The Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) Award for Most Outstanding Graduating Student in Mass Communication, University of Zambia, 2021
• Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) 1st Prize Best Graduating Student in Media Law & Ethics, University of Zambia, 2021
• The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia Award for Most Outstanding Student in Media and Communication Studies, University of Zambia, 2021
• Valedictorian, University of Zambia Mass Communication Class of 2020, University of Zambia, November 2020
• Award for Service as managing editor, Lusaka Star, Sept 2019 – '20
• Global Media Internship Award, Mediaschneider (Switzerland), 2020
• Award for High Standards of Excellence and Creativity in Writing, University of Zambia, 2019
• Award for Service as Features Editor, Lusaka Star, 2018 - '19
• Award for Service as University of Zambia Media Students Association Publicity and Information Secretary, Sept 2018 – '19
• Most Hardworking Reporter Award, Lusaka Star, 2016/2017