About Scarlett Hester
Dr. Hester earned her Ph.D. from the University of Memphis in Rhetoric and Media Studies as well as a graduate certificate in Gender and Women’s Studies. Her research sits at the intersections of critical rhetoric and media studies. She is interested in how cultural discourse shapes our understanding of identity such as race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, specifically within the context of professional sports culture. Additionally, she pursues research pertaining to Korean American adoptee identity through the Korean diaspora and notions of borders and homeland. Her work as appeared in journals such as Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies and Critical Studies in Media Communication. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, staying active, reading (she belongs to a virtual book club), and baking.
Education
Ph.D., University of Memphis
M.A., Ball State University
B.A., High Point University
Research Interests
- critical race studies
- whiteness
- sport and surveillance
- gender
- sexuality
- Korean diaspora
Teaching
COMM 310: Communication and Democracy
COMM 322: Communication and Popular Culture
COMM 355: Communication and Sports
COMM 385: Rhetoric of Marginalized Voices
COMM 612: Rhetorical Criticism
COMM 690: Special Topics in Rhetoric: Critical Rhetorics of Race
Awards and Honors
- Faculty Fellow for Inclusive Excellence, The Pathways Project, The Graduate School, Ball State University, July 2022-present
- John Angus Campbell Award for Excellence in Teaching, University of Memphis Communication Studies, 2015
Service
- Korean American Communication Association, National Communication Association Leadership Team, 2023-present
- Nominating Committee, National Communication Association, 2022
- Secretary, Ethnicity, Race, International, Class Caucus, Central States Communication Association, 2022
- Nominating Committee, Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division, NCA, 2020-2021
Selected Publications
- Hester, Scarlett L. & Denker, Katherine J. “Beyond Burnout, Mentoring Ourselves and Others Past Our Mental Load: Trading in sparks when the glow is gone.” Feminist Mentoring in Academia – forthcoming
- Christensen, Kyle & Hester, Scarlett L. “The horrors of white male innocence in IT (2017).” Critical Studies in Media Communication, vol. 36, no. 5, 2019, pp. 495-512.
- Hester, Scarlett L. “I Promised the Brazilian People: Ronda Rousey, Whiteness, and the UFC as a Neocolonial Enterprise.” Building Bodies: Transnational Historical Approaches to Sport, Gender and Ethnicities, special issue of the Yearbook of Women’s History, vol. 38, 2019, pp. 179-191.
- Hester, Scarlett L. “Hair-raising and knee taking: Colin Kaepernick’s Monstrous Persona.” Monstrosity, special issue of The Popular Culture Studies Journal, vol. 6, no. 2 & 3, 2018, pp. 441 – 461.
- Hester, Scarlett L. & Squires, Catherine R. “Who are we working for? Re-centering Black Feminism.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, vol. 15, no. 4, 2018, pp. 343 – 348.