I am a Teaching Assistant Professor of Political Science in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Lenoir-Rhyne University. 

Before joining Lenoir-Rhyne, I was a  Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences (EPPS) at the University of Texas at Dallas. I earned my PhD in Political Science and my MS in Social Data Analytics from UT Dallas, where my research examined the intersection of civil resistance dynamics, autocratic behavior, and traditional and digital authoritarianism, with a region focus on  the Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) region. 

My work explores how states govern and constrain collective action across physical and digital spaces. My dissertation, "The Architecture of Repression" investigates how regimes deploy digital censorship in the wake of mass mobilization, how foreign surveillance technology investments shape digital authoritarianism, and how spatial environments structure protest-repression dyanmics. 

My passion for studying civil resistance was shaped by my experiences during the Tahrir Square protests, where I witnessed firsthand the power of collective action and non-violent resistance. These experiences continue to inform my commitment to understanding how people challenge authority, navigate repression, and build political agency under authoritarian rule. 

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In my free time, I can usually be found tasting my way through every caramel iced coffee within a 10‑mile radius or experimenting in the kitchen. Both pursuits keep me curious, caffeinated, and occasionally humbled.