The Academic and Professional Achievement award allowed me to present my Thesis at the Northeastern Popular Culture Association’s Annual Conference at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

My presentation examined the instruments of social order and organizing principles of a community with no law or statute through David Milch’s seminal HBO series, Deadwood. It analyzed theories of social deviance set forth by Kai Erickson and how it comports with violence as an act of pragmatism in Deadwood. It further examined Emile Durkheim’s theories of social deviance.

It was a wonderful opportunity to present my work at the Conference and receive feedback from other scholars and professionals in the field. I incorporated graphical, video, and audio components into the presentation and it was very well received.

The presentation was followed by a Q&A and touched on a plethora of important themes and issues facing contemporary America – formal and informal power structures, race, gender, education, economic forces, and much more.

The conference was well attended and rife with captivating presentations. I was able to interact with colleagues and discuss fascinating topics with other scholars. One presenter is doing her dissertation on The Wire and remained in contact after an excellent discussion on her presentation.

This was particularly helpful in that it allowed me to form connections and learn about the research and work being done in the field. There were many engaging panels that acted as an inspiration for further ideas, theories and subjects for future research.

I was thrilled with the intelligence and engagement of the audience during the presentation and Q&A. The questions were all articulate, well-reasoned and demonstrated a fundamental understanding of the material.

Though it was an absolutely exhausting amount of travel in a very small amount of time – I had to fly from LAX to Bradley International back to LAX in the span of 36 hours – I was absolutely thrilled to be able to attend the NEPCA 2017 Annual Conference and even more honored to present my research.

This opportunity was made possible by the College of Communication Award for Academic and Professional Achievement and support from Boston University. It was an amazing experience being able to put my Thesis out into the world, present it and interact with those interesting in the subject matter and something I would certainly recommend to any student thinking about pursuing their Doctorate.