My work in media studies explores how meaning is constructed through visual storytelling, with a focus on intersectionality, representation, and spectatorship. I am particularly interested in how identity—especially race and queerness—shapes both the creation and interpretation of film.
More specifically, my research engages with intersectional spectatorship and social reception, examining how different audiences interpret media through lived experience and cultural context. I draw on frameworks from critical race theory and queer theory to examine how narratives construct, reinforce, and challenge systems of identity and power.
I am also interested in how narrative functions across genres and traditions, including literary and filmic contexts such as Tolkien studies, where questions of identity, mythology, and representation intersect in complex ways.
This work connects closely with my broader interest in how structured systems—mathematical, biological, and cultural—produce meaning across disciplines. This perspective informs my creative work in filmmaking, where I explore similar questions of identity, embodiment, and representation through visual narrative.
Published Research
An Evaluation of Moonlight’s Intersectional Pedagogy: How Does Identity Affect Leadership – Published in the International Journal of Servant Leadership and in Servant-Leadership, Feminism, and Gender Well-Being: How Leaders Transcend Global Inequities through Hope, Unity, and Love
Additional Research and Media Analysis
Statistical Analysis of Racial Bias in MPAA Ratings Systems – Advised by Matthew Bolton, PhD – Awarded Jesuit Mission Fellowship
Statistical and media analysis of racial bias in film rating systems, examining how representation and content influence classification and reception.
Painting in Hitchcock Video Essay – Analyzing Alfred Hitchcock’s use of paintings in mise-en-scene throughout his films, with a particular focus on Suspicion (1941).
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Commentary Track – A dialogue of the motifs of power and common approaches seen throughout German Expressionism.
Together, these works reflect my broader interest in how visual media constructs meaning and how identity shapes both narrative and audience interpretation.
Phoenix Nenar Portfolio 