Yahya Alzahrany 
B.A. in journalism, King Saud University 
M.A. in mass communication, Murray State University
Dissertation director: Mariam F. Alkazemi, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Public Relations, Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture
Dissertation title: "Exploring the Agenda Building of Government-Sponsored News Before and After the Vision 2030 Announcement"

Allison Bennett Dyche
B.S. in journalism, Georgia Southern University
M.A. in documentary photography, Savannah College of Art and Design
M.F.A. in writing, Savannah College of Art and Design
Dissertation director: Mary Caton Lingold, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Teach Me How to Podcast: Understanding the Rise of Audio Journalism and its Place in the Curriculum"
Professional website: https://allisonbennettdyche.com

Saleh Bin Khulayf 
B.A. in mass communication, King Saud University 
M.A. in communication arts, New York Institute of Technology
Dissertation director: Jeanine Guidry, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture
Dissertation title: "What Motivates Saudi Females' Intentions to Get Mammography? A Randomized Control Trial to Evaluate Effective Preventative Messages"

Ahmed Alqarni
B.A. in Arabic language and literature, King Kahlid University, Saudi Arabia
M.A. in communication, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Dissertation director: Marcus Messner, Robertson School of Media and Culture
Dissertation title: "Uses and Gratifications Sought Social Media in Saudi Arabia: A Comparison of Twitter and Snapchat"

Yuxiang Dong
B.F.A. in photography, Beijing Film Academy
M.F.A. in imaging arts, Rochester Institute of Technology
Dissertation director: Jennifer Rhee, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Repoliticizing the Depoliticized: Experimental Ethnography and Social Practice in Chinese Media Art"

Alex Jones
B.S. in business administration, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.A. in English Literature, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Oliver Speck, School of World Studies 
Dissertation title: "Snapshots of a Fictional Past: Photographic Nostalgia in the Early Twentieth-Century Art Novel"

Francis Longaker 
B.A. in history and music, Lynchburg College 
M.A.L.S. in humanities, Hollins University 
Diploma in business administration/management, National College
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Myth and the Sublime in Video Games"

Jeannette Vigliotti
B.A. in English, Flagler College
M.A. in English, University of North Florida
Dissertation director: Karen Rader, Department of History
Dissertation title: Who is Consuming You?: Literary and Technoscientific Imaginaries of Monstrous Hunger in Digital Body Construction"

Mohammed Alasmari
B.A. in mass communication, Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University
M.A. in communication arts, University of the Incarnate Word
Dissertation director: Mariam Alkazemi, Robertson School
Dissertation title: "Why We Follow Celebrities: An Examination of Parasocial Interaction and Fan Engagement in Celebrity’s Social Media Page"

Ezaddeen Almutairi 
B.A. in mass communication, King Saud University 
M.A. in communication arts, University of the Incarnate Word’s School of Media and Design
Dissertation director: Karen McIntyre, Robertson School
Dissertation title: Sharing News on Twitter in Saudi Arabia: What Are the Drivers?"

Dawn Johnson
B.A. in English, University of Virginia
J.D., University of Richmond, School of Law 
Dissertation director: Archana Pathak, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Dissertation title: "Black Feminist Thought, Interrupted: Dissecting the Voice of Black Feminists in the Blogosphere and their Engagement with Platform Affordances"

Frankie Mastrangelo
B.A. in English, Rollins College
M.A. in media, cinema, digital studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Dissertation director: Myrl Beam, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Dissertation title: "Theorizing #Girlboss Culture: Mediated Neoliberal Feminisms from Influencers to Multi-level Marketing Schemes"

Clare van Loenen
B.A. in history of art, University of Bristol, UK
P.G.C.E. – Postgraduate Certificate of Education, University of Cambridge, Homerton College, UK
M.A. in museum studies, University of Leicester, UK
Dissertation director(s): Eric Garberson, Department of Art History, and Hope Ginsburg, Department of Panting + Printmaking (co-chairs)
Dissertation title: "Beyond the Social: Artist Project Spaces, 2003-2016"
Professional website: https://cargocollective.com/clarevl

Abdullah Alahmari
B.A. in education, King Kahlid University, Saudi Arabia
M.A. in communication arts, University of the Incarnate Word
Dissertation director: Karen McIntyre, Robertson School of Media and Culture
Dissertation title: "Twitter and Public Opinion in Saudi Arabia"

Chaz Barracks
B.A. in criminal justice, University of Richmond
M.A. in nonprofit studies, University of Richmond 
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History 
Dissertation title: "Afro-Futurism in Realtime: A Womanist Autoethnographic Account of a Multi-Dimensional Identity, Resilience Pedagogy, and Imaginative Community Practice"

Wedyan Kattan
B.A. in English literature, King Abdulaziz University 
M.B.A. in executive business administration, King Abdulaziz University
M.A. in strategic public relations, George Washington University
Dissertation director: Marcus Messner
Dissertation title: "Stereotypes of Saudies in Western Media"

Neal Swisher
B.A. in cognitive science and philosophy research, Franklin & Marshall College
Master of Liberal Arts, University of Pennsylvania
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Tracking the Body with Digital Tools: Implications for Health, Culture and Identity"

Francesca Lyn
B.F.A. in painting, University of Florida
M.A. in digital arts and sciences, University of Florida
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Graphic Intimacies: Identity, Humor, and Trauma in Autobiographical Comics by Women of Color"

Michael Means
B.A. in political science, Radford University
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Cristina Stanciu, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Adaptive Acts: Queer Voices and Radical Adaptation in Multi-Ethnic American Literary and Visual Culture”

Paul Robertson
B.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.A. in Appalachian studies, Appalachian State University
M.A. in English, Appalachian State University
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "The Mountains at the End of the World: Subcultural Appropriations of Appalachia and the Hillbilly Image, 1990-2010"

Mary Selph
B.A. in liberal arts, Hofstra University
M.F.A. in creative writing, Texas State University-San Marcos
Dissertation director: Katherine Nash, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Literary Materiality in Contemporary Little Magazines"

Tracy Spencer-Stonestreet
B.A. in art and design, B.A. in history from North Carolina State University
M.F.A. in studio art from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dissertation director: Kathleen Chapman, Department of Art History 
Dissertation title:"Performance Artifacts as Indexes of Queer Bodies: Their Engagement with and Challenge to the Archive"

Andrew Spencer
B.A. in English, The University of Texas
B.F.A. in theater studies, The University of Texas
M.A. in English, Baylor University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Always Already Entrapped: The Panoptic Power of Capitalism in American Literature, 1900-1945"

Paula Talero Álvarez
B.A. in journalism, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain
M.A. in cinematography, University of Córdoba, Spain
M.A. in interdisciplinary studies, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Archana Pathak, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Dissertation title: "Why Katniss Everdeen is our Favorite Feminist:An Analysis of the Heroine of the Hunger Games Film Saga and her Reception by Young Female Spectators"

Justin Greene
B.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Performing Authorship in the Late-Twentieth-Century and Early-Twenty-First-Century (1960 to 2010)"

Byeongwon Ha
B.F.A. in film, television and multi-media, SungKyunKwan University
M.F.A. in media art, Yonsei University
M.F.A. in digital media, Rhode Island School of Design
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Nam June Paik as a Pioneer of Interactive Art"

Deb Saidel
B.A. in religious studies and music, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.M. in flute performance, Georgia State University
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Women in Music: Letting a Long Story be Long. Contemplating Women’s Sonic, Musical, and Spiritual Experiences in Prehistory"

Gareth Blackwell
B.A. in journalism, University of Mississippi
M.A. in journalism, University of Mississippi
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Good as We Know It: Goodness in Graphic Design Discourse since 1870"

Charity Fowler
B.A. in theater and creative writing, Florida State University
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
J.D., University of California at San Diego
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Representations of Alternate Sexualities in Fan Texts, Videos, and Art"

Jessica Gordon
B.A. in English and psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Multimodal Pedagogies, Processes and Projects: Writing Teachers Know More Than We May Think About Teaching Multimodal Composition”

Ivy Roberts
B.A. in film/video production and cultural history, Marlboro College
M.A. in media studies and cultural studies, Antioch University
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Distant Electric Vision: Cultural Representations of Television from "Edison's telephonoscope" to the Electronic Screen”

Tamara Watkins
B.A. in English, Saginaw Valley State University
M.A. in communication and multimedia, Saginaw Valley State University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: "(Re)Mediating the Spirit: An Analysis of Evangelical Christian Young Adult Media"

Lauren Boasso
B.A. in English literature, Augusta State University
M.A. in comparative literature, Binghamton University
Dissertation director: Catherine Roach, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Viewing Victorian Prisoners: Representations in the Illustrated Press, Painting, and Photography"

Linda Gupta
B.A. in education, University of North Carolina
M.S.W., Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Marcel Cornis-Pope, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Wreading, Performing, and Reflecting: The Application of Narrative Hypertext and Virtual World Experiences to Social Work Education"

Rebecca Johnson
B.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: "The New Gatekeepers: How Blogs Subverted Mainstream Book Reviews"

Rebekah McKendry
B.A. in film studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
M.A. in education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
M.F.A. in film studies, City University of New York
Dissertation director: Noreen Barnes, Department of Theatre
Dissertation title: "The Implementation and Emulation of Cult Movie Marketing"

Maria De Panbehchi
B.A. in Spanish literature, University of Chihuahua
M.A. in Latin American literature, New Mexico State University
Dissertation director: Nicholas Sharp, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Nostalgia and iPhone Camera Apps : An Ethnographic Visual Approach to iPhoneography"

Candace Parrish
B.S. in public relations, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.S. in strategic public relations, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Rowena Briones, Robertson School
Dissertation title: "Exploring Visual Prevention: Analysis of Infographics as Effective Cervical Cancer Prevention for African American Women"

Dianne Roman
B.A. in fine arts, Kent State University
M.F.A. in studio for interrelated media, Massachusetts College of Art
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Women at the Crossroads, Women at the Forefront: American Women in Letterpress Printing, 1638-2013"

Guido Alvarez
B.F.A. in craft and design, Universidad del Azuay School of Design
M.F.A. in design with a concentration in visual communication, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Avatar, cyborg, ICEVORG: Simulacra’s scion"

Amy Colombo
B.F.A. in photography, University of Georgia
M.F.A. in photography, University of Delaware
M.F.A. in creative writing, West Virginia University
Dissertation director: Nicholas Frankel, Department of English
Dissertation title: "G.A.M.E.: A Hypermedia Edition of James McNeil Whistler’s The Gentle Art of Making Enemies"

Jennifer Figg
B.F.A. in textiles, Rhode Island School of Design
M.F.A. in fine arts, University of California, Santa Barbara
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Expanding Eco-Visualization: Sculpting Corn Production"

Ahmed Hamada
B.A. in mass communication, Kuwait University
M.A. in journalism, Indiana University
Dissertation director: Timothy Bajkiewicz, Associate professor, School of Mass Communications
Dissertation title: "The Integration History of Kuwaiti Television from 1957-1990: An Audience-Generated Oral Narrative on the Arrival and Integration of the Device in the City"

Salvador Barajas
B.A. in philosophy and religious studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
M.A.L.S. with a concentration in humanities, Hollins University
Dissertation director: Elizabeth Hodges, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Doing Memory Work in the Third Space Between Self and Community: An Auto-Ethnography"

Vera Brown
B.A. in English, Pittsburg State University
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Joshua Eckhardt, Department of English
Dissertation title: "From Tempera to Ink to Code: The Other Media of Orthodox Iconography"

Sandra Burke
B.A. in graphic design, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
M.F.A. in studio art, University of New Mexico
Dissertation director: Gretchen Soderlund, Department of English and Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies; and Archana Pathak, Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Dissertation title: "Thinking Bodies and Sensational Minds: Affect and Embodiment in Art, Science, and Philosophy"

Elizabeth Canfield
B.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.F.A. in creative writing, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Catherine Ingrassia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Queer Alchemies: Radical Futurity in the Shell of the Now"

Lee Carleton
B.S. in Biblical studies, Lancaster Bible School
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Nicholas Sharp, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Rhetorical Ripples: The Church of the SubGenius, Kenneth Burke, & Comic Symbolic Tinkering"

Randy Davis
B.S. in psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
B.A. in international studies, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.S. in mass communications with a concentration in multimedia journalism, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Oliver Speck, School of World Studies
Dissertation title: Bakhtin’s Carnivalesque: A Gauge of Dialogism in Soviet and Post-Soviet Cinema

Jesse Hernandez
A.A. in education, Elgin College
B.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.T., Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Nicholas Frankel, Department of English
Dissertation title: “The Senses in Synthesis: An Intersensory Approach to Nineteenth-century Symbolism”

Kathryn Lynch
B.F.A. in fine arts, University of Illinois
M.F.A. in art, Ohio State University
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "Technologies and Artworks: An Exploration through Ihde and Latour"

David Makhanlall
B.A. in English, University of Guyana
M.A. in English/creative writing, Queens College
Dissertation director: Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: “English Composition 100: Best Practices for Online Instruction”

Scott Mills
B.F.A. in sculpture, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.F.A. in fine arts with a concentration in photography and film, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Nicholas Sharp, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Old World, New Media"

John Priestley
B.A. in English, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
M.A. in English, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Textuality of Generative Music"

Stella Reinhard
B.A. in mathematics, Greenville College
M.A. in children’s literature, Hollins University
Dissertation director: Noreen Barnes, Department of Theatre
Dissertation title: "The e-Volving Picture Book: Examining the Impact of New e-Media/Technologies On Its Form, Content and Function (And on the Child Reader)"

Sean Stewart
B.A. in advertising, Marshall University
M.A.J. with a public relations emphasis, Marshall University
Dissertation director: Yan Jin, School of Mass Communications
Dissertation title: "Visualization, Viewer and Emotion: An empirical study of cognitive and affective responses to infographics used for crisis communication"

Leah Thomas
B.A. in English, University of Kentucky
M.A. in English, University of Kentucky
M.S. in library and information science, University of Kentucky
Dissertation director: Catherine Ingrassia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Literary Landscapes: Mapping Emergent American Identity in Transatlantic Narratives of Women’s Travel of the Long Eighteenth Century"

Kristine Trever Weatherston
B.A. in film studies, Wayne State University
M.A. in communications/media arts, Wayne State University
Dissertation director: Elizabeth Hodges, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Nonfiction, Documentary, and Family Narrative: An Intersection of Representational Discourses and Creative Practice"

Neal Wyatt
B.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University MA in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
M.S. in library science, Catholic University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: “Readers’ Advisory Poetics”

Adam Dean
B.A. in media studies, Pennsylvania State University
M.F.A. in radio, television and film, University of North Texas
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Phenomenology in Human-Computer Interaction: New Approaches to Activity Theory"

Vaughn Whitney Garland
B.A. in English literature and B.A. in art, Emory & Henry College 
M.F.A. in fine arts with a concentration in painting, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Participation in the Digital Public:New Media Art as Online Community"

Norberto Gomez
B.F.A. in art, Texas A&M University-Kingsville
M.F.A. in fine arts with a concentration in painting, University of Houston
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "The Art of Perl: How a Scripting Language (Inter)Activated the Web"

Belinda Haikes
B.F.A. in studio art/printmaking, University of Alabama at Birmingham
M.F.A. in studio art/printmaking, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Dissertation director: Gretchen Soderlund, Department of English and Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies; and Eric Garberson, Department of Art History
Dissertation title: "A Mediated Intimacy: Art, Technology and Exchange in the Digital Age"

Leejin Kim
B.F.A. in sculpture, Seoul National University, Korea MFA in Sculpture and New Media, University of Pennsylvania
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Anatomy-based Realistic Facial Animation and its application to Art"

Deidra Lee
B.A. in English, Virginia State University
M.A. in English, Old Dominion University
Dissertation director: Marcus Messner, Assistant professor, School of Mass Communications
Dissertation title: "Broken News: Market Segmentation and Selective Exposure in Online News"

Shana Meganck
B.A. in mass communications, Mary Baldwin College
M.A. in journalism, University of Georgia
Dissertation director: Marcus Messner, School of Mass Communications
Dissertation title: "Setting our Nutritional Agenda: The Impact of Blog Sourcing on Society"

Nathan Altice
B.A. in sociology, University of Virginia
M.L.A. in liberal arts, University of Richmond
Dissertation director: David Golumbia, Department of English
Dissertation title: “I am Error: A Nintendo Famicom/NES Platform Study”

Robin Ashworth
B.A. in English, James Madison University
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Gary Sarkozi, School of Education
Dissertation title: "Theories of Orality in Relation to West African Griot Culture and the Influence of 21st Century Media: A Case Study of Alhaji Papa Susso"

Lee Bloxom
B.A. in English, Wellesley College
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Noreen Barnes, Department of Theatre
Dissertation title: "Eastern Shore Stories: Technology, Place and Local Culture"

Jennifer Smith Roudabush
B.A. in English, University of Virginia
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Katherine Nash, Les Harrison
Dissertation title: "Theorizing Digital Narrative: Beginnings, Endings, Authorship"

Melinda White
B.S. in English, Utah State University
M.S. in English, Utah State University
Dissertation director: Susan Cokal, Department of English
Dissertation title:"Between Floors: The Ups and Downs of Mediated Narrative"

Meghan Rosatelli
B.A. in English, University of Colorado (Boulder)
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Richard Fine, Department of English
Dissertation title: "A Framework for Digital Emotions"

Norah Lind
B.A., M.Ed. University of Virginia
M.A. in English, Virginia Commonwealth University
Dissertation director: Bryant Mangum, Department of English
Dissertation title: "Lillian Wescott Hale and Nancy Hale: From Victorian to Modern Art and Text"