Hey, I’m Kyle (he/they).
I’m a PhD student in the Department of Comparative Studies, where I am passionately exploring research related to public affairs, democratic theory, community politics, state and local government, pragmatic philosophy, critical theory, and American studies. My scholarship in these areas is based around four key principles: (1) interdisciplinarity, (2) comparison, (3) global citizenship and awareness, and (4) social justice. Working according to these principles means that I continually strive to further my understanding about how to connect wide-ranging ways of knowing and doing in new ways to solve complex problems; I seek to better understand the nature of the world by placing objects of analysis in context, including its deep historical cultural developments; and my raison d’être for doing the work that I do is to produce a more just world.
Before pursuing academia, I was involved in local government. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2018 and a Master’s degree in Public Administration in 2020. (I also completed all the coursework to get a PhD in Public Affairs and Management at Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs before switching to Comparative Studies to do more critical and interdisciplinary work.) While involved in local government, I worked on numerous projects related to community and economic development, community engagement, marketing, and social policy. I developed experience working with diverse organizations, including state agencies, non-profits, churches, small businesses, and all levels of municipal government. Some of the projects I’m most proud to have collaborated on include implementing a school supply drive, helping small local businesses find employees, developing an English as a Second Language program, and creating an organization to beautify a downtown area and host new community events.
Throughout all my research and teaching, I work to elevate historically marginalized (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Indigenous, and disability justice) perspectives and issues. Ideally, that elevation is led by and is in collaboration with people from those groups. Currently, my scholarship is focused on incorporating Black feminist and Indigenous perspectives into public affairs research on pragmatism, bridging Critical Whiteness Studies and scholarship related to representative bureaucracy and community engagement, and investigating the possibilities of capability economics as an alternative to Marxist theories of urban politics. As an community-engaged scholar, I also manage a consulting firm to help small local governments adopt human-centered design techniques and volunteer with multiple community organizations.
When I’m not reading, grading papers, or nerding out with my colleagues, I love going for walks, learning about different cultures, playing board games, having deep and thoughtful conversations about life, and sharing love and joy with my wife and friends.
