Why step through the frame?

We relate to one another through stories.
We see those stories through frames.
Those frames dictate how we experience the story.

Woody Allen will frame a story very differently than will Stanley Kubrick. Quite literally, too. If you asked Woody Allen to take a picture of my home, perhaps he would stand at the end of the street and capture my house from there. You might derive the socio-economic status of the neighborhood, understand what vehicles my neighbors drive and how well they maintain their yards. Maybe Stanley Kubrick would photograph one window of the house, mostly intact with some semblance of aging. What information would you have then?

For years I struggled to rationalize collective societal acknowledgement or ignorance of pervasive social problems. I studied visual anthropology to build a strong theoretical foundation to understand communication of these social issues. I studied theoretical frameworks for understanding communication and I considered other frames too: the camera lens, mass media, discourse. I started to think about the stories through which I relate to my environment, and to focus on the director. Was Woody Allen framing the story for me or was Stanley Kubrick? How was that affecting how I received information - my understanding of globalization, gender equality, immigration - how was this impacted?

Public opinion matters. If the public is apathetic or ambivalent about an issue, it matters. If the public is uninformed or misinformed, the repercussions can be great. An idle public has a voice as does an impassioned public. An uneducated public can speak as loudly as an educated one. For this reason, I am interested in the frames that shape how the public learns. This is where I am focusing my work.

One final bit of vanity. Here's what you need to know about me: I have a research-intensive portfolio with a focus on the interaction between communities and organizational structures. I combine a comprehension of media and communication with a passion for research and analysis; I use this to tackle issues of public policy and give voice to communities. I leverage my training in theoretical and applied social research to remain up-to-date on studies of practice and passionately keyed in to policy application.