President | Kino-Eye Center
RCEL Lecturer | Rice University | George R. Brown School of Engineering
PhD (ABD) Visual & Cultural Studies, Univ. of Rochester
MA Visual & Cultural Studies, Univ. of Rochester
MFA Cinematic Arts, Univ. of Southern California
BFA Visual Arts, Rice University
BA Cultural Anthropology, Rice University
BA Art & Art History, Rice University
As a documentary filmmaker and visual anthropologist, I have traveled and worked in over 30 countries. My films explore such diverse topics as modern primitivism & performance sub-cultures, paramilitary civilian action on the U.S./Mexico border, the controversial world of talk radio, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA fighting, and the relationship between sports and assimilation in immigrant communities.
Presently, I am working on several new documentary films, including an exploration of the growing participation of women in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts. I have also worked as a News Editor and Special Projects Consultant for Fox 26 News.
As a Lecturer for the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership in the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University, I teach courses on Leadership and Communication.
I currently serve as President of the Kino-Eye Center for Visual Innovation, a 501(c)3 Arts & Education non-profit foundation that I co-founded in 2004 with Rice University faculty and staff. Through the Kino-Eye Center, I have formulated a variety of Education & Arts initiatives, including the Deconstructing Literacy K-12 education intervention program, the Spring 2012 Rice University Centennial Courses in Film and Art History, and career development events in partnership with the Rice Center for Career Development and the Humanities Research Center.
Research interests
New Media & social media technology, game-based learning, multi-user online learning environments (MOVE), visual & cultural studies, media production & theory, rhetoric & representation, horror/sci-fi/fantasy genre studies, visual anthropology, documentary film, transnational & diasporic representation, “ecstatic truth” & the cinematic sublime.
