About me:
Originally from the U.S., I've been working in the Department of Communication Science since August, 2011.  I received my Ph.D. in Communication in 2011 from the University of Washington, and I received an M.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota, in 2006.

My research and teaching focus on political communication, news, and public opinion, with a particular interest in the role national identity plays in the construction and flow of news, as well as its effects on citizens’ attitudes and behaviour. Please navigate to the adjacent pages for more information on my research and teaching.

I teach in the Bachelor and Master programs in Political Communication, as well as in the 2-year Erasmus Mundus Masters Program in Journalism, Media & Globalization.

The bulk of my research focuses on national identity-protective framing, news, and foreign policy.
I conduct this research primarily with Chuck Rowling (University of Nebraska-Kearney), and also with Jason Gilmore (Utah State University). 

In these studies, we have developed a framework for understanding how governments (and militaries) rhetorically respond to military crisis (from torture allegations to mis-targeted drone strikes), how journalists in turn report on such responses, and how voters are affected by such patterns. This includes both international comparative and U.S.-based research. Our current work explores and specifies the mechanisms by which such news patterns affect audiences, and examines additional (international) policy contexts in which such identity-protective news framing dominates--and when, by contrast, journalists apply a more critical lens.

I also conduct research with UvA colleagues, covering a range of topics, primarily including populist communication strategies.

My teaching, like my research, focuses substantially on the relationships between political actors, mass media, and public opinion. At UvA, I teach a number of courses focusing on these issues, as well as on research methods.

At the Masters level, I regularly teach Journalism & the Media and Methods and Statistics Tailored to the Thesis (in the Mundus programme). Occasionally I teach the Political Marketing elective, and periodically we'll offer special topic courses on the American presidential elections. I also helped develop and teach an elective on Data Journalism.

At the Bachelors level, I regularly teach The Media Landscape/Medialandschap in the first year, and a Topic course on National Identity & the News (or on the U.S. elections).

I also regularly supervise both Pol Com and Erasmus Mundus thesis students.

Online appendices for select publications will be made available here, with the accompanying paper title.