My primary research interests lie in the area of peace & conflict studies. I am specifically interested in where how conflict is portrayed within media and society.
One of the research questions I have been working on in a previous course looks at how the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan was portrayed in the media. Comparing the time period between when the withdrawal was agreed on between former President Trump and the Taliban with the time period after Joe Biden was elected is one variable that emerged as a path I would like to explore further. Specifically, I would like to examine how u.S. combat veterans were framed within media portrayals and how that framing changed between Presidential administrations.
Another issue I am interested in is in how military veterans’ narratives can contribute potential insights and inform the field of peace and conflict studies. I have ideas on what types of research would best answer the questions surrounding this issue, but am in the exploratory phase of that
The other research area I am interested in concerns how combat veterans interact with the social movements of protest. Potential ways this could be explored are through political action groups, organized nonviolent protests, and individual actions.
I began studying R and data analysis tools last fall, so I am very new to the technologies and look forward to developing my skills this semester so that I can hone in on what area of research I want to focus on in the future.