Ph.D. in Communications Research, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL, 2012
Concentration: Critical Cultural Studies and Media Studies
M.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2005
B.A. in Communications, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2003
Washington, M. (2021). "Draw Your Own Box": Deciphering Meghan Markle's Mixed-Race Identity. Women's Studies in Communication
Washington, M. (2020). Woke Skin, White Masks: Race and Communication Studies. Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies. 17(2)
Harris, T.M. and M. Washington. (2019). “It’s Handled!”: The Complex Intersection of Race and Gender in Scandal’s Olivia Pope. In Kimberly R. Moffitt, Simone Puff, and Ronald L. Jackson II (Eds) Gladiators in Suits: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Representation in Scandal. Syracuse University Press
Washington, M. & T. Harris. (2018). Shonda Rhimes’ Post-racial Promised-land. In Rachel A. Griffin and Michaela Meyer (Eds.) Identity Politics and the Power of Representation: Adventures in Shondaland. Rutgers University Press.
Washington, M.S. (2017). Blasian Invasion: Mixed-Race Blacks/Asians within the Celebrity Industrial Complex. University of Mississippi Press.
Washington, M. (2017). Playing Race: Blackness and Kinship in Telltale’s The Walking Dead. In Robert Mejia, Jaime Banks, and Aubrie Adams (Eds.) 100 Greatest Video Games. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Washington, M. (2017). Black/Asian Hybridities: Multiracial Asian Americans on The Voice. In Vincent Pham and Lori K. Lopez (Eds.) The Routledge Companion to Asian American Media. London: Routledge.
Eguchi, S. & M. Washington. (2016). Reimagining Potentiality: A Queer of Color Analysis of LOGO’s DTLA. Journal of Communication Inquiry.
Washington, M. & K.A. Ono. (2016). Race, Nationalism, and Transnationalism. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication, http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.33
Washington M. (2016). Asian American Masculinity: The Politics of Virality, Virility, and Visibility. In Safiya Noble and Brendesha Tynes (Eds.) The Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Class and Culture Online. New York: Peter Lang.
Washington, M. (2016). Book Review: The Post-Racial Mystique: Media and Race in the 21st Century. The Black Scholar. 46(2)
Washington, M. & M. Economides. (2016). Strong is the New Sexy: Women, CrossFit, and the Postfeminist Ideal. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 40(2), 143-161.
Washington, M. (2015). “Because I’m Blasian”: Tiger Woods, Scandal and Protecting the Blasian Brand. Communication, Culture, & Critique. 8(4), 522-539.
Washington, M. (2012). Interracial Intimacy: Hegemonic Construction of Asian American and Black Relationships on TV Medical Dramas. Howard Journal of Communications, 23(3), 253-271.
Ono, K.A. and M. Washington (2012). Representation, Relations of Power and the Self. In Alan K. Goodboy and Kara Schultz (Eds.) Introduction to Communication Studies: Translating Communication Scholarship into Meaningful Practice. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.
Books in Progress
Mixed Race All Over the Place: Anti-Blackness and Global Multiraciality
From Orientalism to Woke: Reframing Asian/Americans in Media
Commentaries/Quotes
Venkatraman, S. & Lockhart, P.R. (2020). "Not enough or double the prejudice? On being Black and Asian American in 2020". https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/not-enough-or-double-prejudice-being-black-asian-american-2020-n1243353
Mackey, B. (2020). “Is ‘Cancel Culture’ stopping free speech” WILL – The 21st Show https://will.illinois.edu/21stshow/story/is-cancel-culture-stopping-free-speech
Rose, S. (2018). "Let's rock! Why Dwayne Johnson is the new Schwarzenegger." The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/14/lets-rock-why-dwayne-johnson-is-the-new-schwarzenegger
Johnson, A. (2016). “What would it mean to have a ‘hapa’ Bachelorette?” NPR: Code Switch: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/03/13/470124738/what-would-it-mean-to-have-a-hapa-bachelorette
Washington, M. (2014) “Mixed-Wieners and mixed-race humour: Laughing at Key & Peele” inmediares: http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/imr/2014/08/19/mixed-wieners-and-mixed-race-humour-laughing-key-peele
Invited
"Auntie Kamala: On Being Too Much and Not Enough." Bernard L. Brock Memorial Lecture. January 27, 2021. Wayne State University, MI.
AIM X Blacklight: Demystifying the Model Minority Myth – How race classification separates minority communities. June 18, 2020. Microsoft
Keynote Address. Pacific Northwest Communication Studies Undergraduate Research Conference. April 2, 2020. University of Puget Sound, WA. Canceled due to covid-19
“Netflix, Asian/Americans and the Authenticity Trap.” Oct. 29, 2019. Willamette University, Salem, OR.
“Racial Identity Tourism: DNA Commercials and the Enduring Fictions of Race.” Oct. 4, 2019. University of Memphis, TN.
“Decentering Whiteness in Multiraciality: Theory and Practice on Multiple Minority Mixed Populations.” National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, May 30, 2019. Portland, OR.
“Can a DNA Ancestry test tell me who I am 2.0? Multiple Perspectives on Direct-to-Consumer Ancestry Testing and Implications for Higher Education.” National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, May 29, 2019. Portland, OR.
“Double Fault: Transnational Celebrity, Race, and Naomi Osaka.” April 1, 2019. University of Utah, UT.
“Can my DNA tell me who I am? Multiple Perspectives on Direct-to-Consumer Ancestry Testing and Implications for Higher Education.” National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, May 30, 2018. New Orleans, LA.
“Blasian Invasion: Representations and Repercussions.” May 21, 2018. University of California San Diego, CA.
“’Mixed but not Coloured?’ Representations of Post-Apartheid People in South African Media.” May 11, 2018. University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
“Blasian, Branding and Binary Paradigms.” “Permission to Speak: Multiracial Identities, Communities, and the Public Sphere.” November 27-28, 2017. Washington College, Chesterton, MD.
“Social Justice Leadership, Allyship, and Racially Mixed People.” October 17, 2017. Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA.
“Who Gets to Speak on Behalf of Communities of Color? Complicating Mixed Race Leadership and Advocacy across Research and Practice.” National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, June 1, 2017. Ft. Worth, TX.
“Blasian Invasion: Afro-Asian Connections, Couplings, and Coalitions” April 17, 2017. Willamette University.
“Continuing the Keynote Conversation on #BlackLivesMatter: Centralizing Marginality through Protest and Activism.” President Elect’s Panel - Western States Communication Association, February 19, 2017. Salt Lake City, UT.
“Digital Natives and Digital Inequalities.” Race and Media Conference, October 21, 2016, New York University.
“Racial Mixing: Blasians and Binary Paradigms.” Forum for Scholars & Publics, September 27, 2016. Duke University
“Red and Yellow, Black and Brown: Researching Mixed Race.” National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, June 1, 2016. San Francisco, CA.
“Arriving East of California: Gateways to Community and Mentorship.” Association for Asian American Studies, April 29, 2016. Miami, FL.
“Privacy’s Sociocultural Divide across American Youth.” National Science Foundation -Secure & Trustworthy Computing New Collaborations workshop. January 21 – 22, 2016. George Washington University.
“Bill Ayers Communication Forum: Communicating for Social Justice - #BlackLivesMatter.” National Communication Association, November 21, 2015. Las Vegas, NV.
“Hybrid Cyborgs: Situating Mixed-Race Bodies in our Post-Racial Future.” Race and Media Conference, October 17, 2014. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Is it Cool that Miley Cyrus is Twerking on Twitter?” Featured Panelist - Internet Week New York. NY, NY. May 22, 2013
“Mixed-Race Asians.” March 2012, MAASU (Midwestern Asian American Student Union) Annual Conference, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Selected
"Race, Celebrity, and the Professionalization of Labor." National Communication Association, Nov. 21, 2020. Zoom/Indianapolis, IN
“Broad City and the Limits of Platonic Intimacy.” National Communication Association, Nov. 14, 2019. Baltimore, MD.
“‘Draw Your Own Box’: Representational Politics and Meghan Markle’s Mixed Race Identity.” International Communication Association, May 26, 2019. Washington, DC.
“Racial Liminality in Post-apartheid South Africa.” International Conference on Multicultural Discourses, October 24, 2018. Tilburg, Netherlands.
“Trevor Noah and Racial Liminality in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” March 1, 2018. Critical Mixed Race Studies Association Conference, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
“Authenticity, Representation and Master of None.” Association for Asian American Studies Conference, April 15, 2017. Portland, OR.
“Sliding into Home Race.” American Studies Association, November 18, 2016. Denver, CO.
“Being Mary Jane and the Failures of Intersectionality.” National Communication Association, November 12, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
“Civility, Institutional Whiteness, and the Academy: Faculty of Color as Communication Teachers, Scholars, and Public Servants.” National Communication Association, November 11, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
“Cultivating Conference Panel Diversity: A Conversation on Obstacles and Best Practices in Disrupting Whiteness.” National Communication Association, November 10, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
“Blacking Out: Blackness, Racial Mixing, and Reality Television.” National Communication Association, November 10, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
“Black/Asian Connections and the Argument for Blasian Studies.” Association for Asian American Studies, April 29, 2016. Miami, FL.
“Using Digital Media for Coalition Building.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies, April 2, 2016. Atlanta, GA.
“Teens, Technology, and Discourses of Privacy.” Western States Communication Association, March 1, 2016. San Diego, CA.
“Dear White People and the Problem of the Color Line.” National Communication Association, November 20, 2015. Las Vegas, NV.
“Black Asian Pacific American Women’s Voices.” Association for Asian American Studies, April 23, 2015. Evanston, IL.
“The Presence of (Junior) Faculty of Color in Communication: Rethinking Mentoring.” National Communication Association, November 22, 2014. Chicago, IL
“The Presence of Our Past: (In)Visibility of GLBT/Q People of Color.” National Communication Association, November 20, 2014. Chicago, IL.
“Mixed Reviews on The Voice: Critical Technocultural Analysis of Blasians and Reality TV Competition.” Association of Asian American Studies Conference, April 17, 2014. San Francisco, CA.
“’If I Wanna F*&!, I Can F*&!’: Challenging the Politics of Respectability in Vh1’s Basketball Wives.” Western States Communication Association, February 18, 2014. Anaheim, CA.
“Hashtag Activism: The Efficacy of Activism in 140 Characters.” Western States Communication Association, February 18, 2014. Anaheim, CA.
“Transferring the Knowledge of Mentoring: Voices of Junior/Pre-Tenured Communication Faculty of Color.” Western States Communication Association, February 17, 2014. Anaheim, CA.
“(Re)Imagining Potentiality in Male-Queer Spaces: A Queer (of Color) Reading of Love, Sex, and Relationships in DTLA.” National Communication Association, November 23, 2013. Washington, DC.
“Blasians: Exploring the Limits of Identity.” National Communication Association, November 22, 2013. Washington, DC.
“YouTube’s Asian Invasion: The Politics of Virality and Visibility.” Western Communication Association, February 17, 2013. Reno, NV.
“’Because I’m Blasian’: Tiger Woods, Scandal and Protecting the Brand.” National Communication Association, November 18, 2012. Orlando, FL.
“Absolute Linsanity: Mixed-race Asian Athletes and Asian American Exceptionalism.” National Communication Association, November 18, 2012. Orlando, FL.
“’Because I’m Blasian’: Tiger Woods, Scandal and Protecting the Brand.” Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, November 1, 2012. Chicago, IL.
Primary Undergraduate Courses
Additional Undergraduate Courses
Graduate Seminars
Editorial Board Member, Women's Studies in Communication; Ohio State University Press Race and Mediated Culture Series; Journal of Communication and Critical Cultural Studies; McMillan Human Communication Series for Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Culturally-Responsive Pedagogy.
Editorial Assistant, Managing Editor, Qualitative Inquiry; Cultural Studies <-> Critical Methodologies; Studies in Symbolic Interaction. 2008 - 2009
Reviewer, The Review of Communication; Ethnic and Racial Studies; Genealogy; Journal of Multicultural Discourses; Journal of Sport & Social Issues; Communication, Culture & Critique; Critical Studies in Media Communication; Communication Theory; Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies; Sports Coaching Review; Sport in Society; New Media and Society; Communication Inquiry; Quarterly Journal of Speech; International & Intercultural Communication Fordham University Press; Routledge; Lexington Press
Conferences Organized and Planned
Race & Media: University of New Mexico, September 24th – 26th, 2015. www.race-media.org
Disciplinary Service
Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Founding Member, 2016-present
Critical Mixed Race Studies
Treasurer, 2017-2019
Conference Programming Committee, 2015-2016
Critical Cultural Studies Division, National Communication Association
Vice Chair, 2020-2021
Vice Chair-Elect, 2019-2020
2nd Vice Chair-Elect, 2018-2019
National Communication Association
Committee on Committees (now Leadership Development Committee) 2016-2018
Legislative Assembly, At-Large Member, 2016-2018
Rhetoric and Communication Theory Division, National Communication Association
Nominating Committee Chair, 2017-2018
Asian Pacific American Caucus and Asian Pacific American Communication Studies Division, National Communication Association
Chair, 2018-2019
Vice Chair, 2017-2018
Vice Chair-Elect, 2016-2017
2nd Vice Chair-Elect, 2015-2016
Secretary, 2012-2014
Association Membership
National Communication Association
International Communication Association
Critical Mixed Race Studies Association
Western States Communication Association
Society for Media and Cinema Studies
Popular Culture Association
Association for Asian American Studies
American Studies Association
Rhetoric Studies Association
Doctoral Committees
Dissertation Chair: Anthony Peavy
Nikkie Roberts (2018) “(Lie)Alectics and the Discursive Dequeerification of Political Spaces Based on Religious Freedoms: A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of the Mormon and Gay Website.” Assistant Professor and Director of Public Speaking, Central New Mexico University.
Committee Member (Completed Dissertations)
Jocelyn Gomez (2021) "Re/Constructing Race and Racism Among Organized Latinas/os/xs."
Marthia Fuller (2020) "Nubians of Plutonia: Black Women in Modern Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian Graphic Literature."
Hannah Long (2020) "Fat is a Queer Issue Too: Complicating Queerness and Body Size in Women's Sexual Orientation and Identity."
Diana Leon (University of Illinois - 2019) "Bienvenida a Disney Princess Elena: Exploring Race, Age, and Gender in Disney's Elena of Avalor," Assistant Professor, University of South Florida
Ailesha Ringer (2019) "Sex, Labor, and Digital Spaces: A Critical Discourse Analysis of GPGuias, a Brazilian Sex Worker Twitter Feed." Assistant Professor, Metropolitan State University
Zhao Ding (2019) "Resisting the Victimization: Examining Ideological Tensions of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Transnationality Among First-Generation Chinese Migrant Women in U.S. Academia." Assistant Professor, Dixie State University
Lindsay Scott (2018) “Kenyan Youth’s Experiences of Intercultural Conflict: Negotiating Context, Intersectionalities, and Agency.” Assistant Professor, Lone Star College
Godfried Asante (2017) “(Re)Producing the Ghanaian/African Queer Subject: Ideological Tensions and Queer Subjectivities in Post-Colonial Ghana.” Assistant Professor, San Diego State University
Tamiko Truelove-Lemberger (Education, 2016), “Black Women’s Search for Meaning: An Existential Study.” Lecturer, University of New Mexico
Santhosh Chandrashekar (2016), “Un/Desirable Subjects: South Asian Racialization in the Age of Terror.” Assistant Professor, University of Denver.
Erin Watley (2016), “Culture, Conflicts and Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Undergraduate Students’ Reflections and Conversations about Intercultural Conflicts.” Assistant Professor, McDaniel College
Angela Putman (2014), “Interrupting the Silence: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Pilot Seminar on Racism, Intersectionality, and White Privilege.” Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University – Brandywine
Current Committee Member:
Utah: Charnell Peters; Euni Kim; Allison Blumling
UNM: Mario Dozal; Anthony Zarinana; Sophie Jones; Misty Thomas (English)
Master’s Committees
MA Thesis Chair: Isaac Ramsey, Carolotta Anweiler, Seonah Kim, Austin Wolfe, Michael Graham de la Rosa
MA Thesis Committee Member: Diana Leon, Sarah Beck, Reslie Cortes, Hakim Bellamy,
MA Comprehensive Exam Committee: Ailesha Ringer, Devin Heller
Undergraduate Thesis Committees
Chair: Mercedes Gonzales-Bazan, Shelby Wosick
Member: Jordan Unverzagt, Ri Corwin
Mentorship
Ronald E. McNair: Omkulthoom Musa Qassem
Departmental Administration
PhD Director, 2018 -
Departmental Committees
PhD and MA Admissions Committees; Colloquium Committee; Undergraduate Committee; Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
University Committees
Committee on Governance
Race & Social Justice Graduate Certificate Advisory Board
Service Learning Advisory Board
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows Advisory Board
Asian American Studies Planning Committee
New Faculty Committee
Faculty of Color Committee
Office of the Provost Conference Travel Award, University of New Mexico, 2020
Advertising Education Foundation Visiting Professor Fellowship Program, Summer 2019
NM Black Leadership Council and Delta Sigma Theta Cotton Club Scholarship Gala Frederick Douglass Award, March 2019
National Communication Association, Critical Cultural Studies Division, New Investigator Award, 2018
National Communication Association, Doctoral Honors Seminar, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, 2011.
Jeffrey S. Tanaka Research Grant, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2010
Top Interactive Paper, Ethnicity and Race in Communication Division, International Communication Association Conference, 2009
Institute of Communications Research Departmental Fellowship, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2006-2009
Graduate College Diversity Fellowship, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2006-2008
Graduate Assistant, Student Activities, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2004-2005
Graduate Assistant, New Student Orientation, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, summer 2004
Graduate Assistant, Diversity Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2003-2004
Board Member, New Mexico Asian Family Center, 2019 - present
Advisory Board Member, African American Community Economics Transformation Project Team (AACETS), 2014 – Present
Member, New Mexico Black Leadership Council, 2014 - present
Assistant Director (Interim), TRiO McNair Program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2012)
Supervised graduate student leaders and undergraduate program participants during summer research program. Coordinated with faculty mentors, planned conference attendance, ran workshops on research and graduate school preparation.
Summer Research Opportunity Program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2008-2012)
Writing Instructor, Research Team Leader, and GRE Instructor for program targeting underrepresented students and preparing them for graduate school.
Graduate Counselor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2008-2012)
Graduate student advisor for underrepresented undergraduate students, also advised Arts and Sciences chapter of Chi Alpha Epsilon - national honor society that targets students from underrepresented groups who participate in Educational Opportunity programs.
Assistant Director, Student Life, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, (2005-2006)
Advisor to student programming board and government association.