Without apologies for self-indulgence, here goes:

I'm currently a doctoral student in the Annenberg School at University of Pennsylvania, where I started in 2007. I've decided, for now, to focus on issues of new media (the Internet, specifically) and culture, specifically how individuals express themselves online. I'm currently writing papers on blogging and vlogging (YouTube). At Penn, I'm also pursuing a certificate in cinema studies, focusing on American realism.

My interests in both of these topics stems from a desire, a long-held desire, to find new ways of articulating "identity" in ways that move beyond (or advance) the literature on identity politics. As a new generation of scholars enters the field, clearly our current ideas about performance and politicized categories will change. I'm interested in what's new, and what remains.

Prior to attending graduate school, I worked as journalist -- a career I'd been building since my first year of undergrad. I did a lot of interning, mostly reporting, starting at New York Press, then onto the Plain Dealer (Cleveland), the Altanta Journal-Constitution, the Washington Post, and finally at Newsweek. I moved on to Dow Jones, a very informative job that I likely would not choose again, even though I managed to slip a story into the Wall Street Journal.

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in American Culture, which is often called American Studies. I got through mostly on "merit" (loaded word) scholarships, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and participated in a few activities like the a cappella group Gimble and the school newspaper, the Michigan Daily, where I reported on the university administration, affirmative action, student activism and, yes, fashion.

I grew up in northern New Jersey, about thirty minutes or so from New York, the only American city I have strong feelings for and the place where most of my friends live. Both my parents now work for the New York City public school system, my father a facilities manager in the Bronx and my mother a principal. My little brother goes to Temple University.

I enjoy film, art, politics and style and can never quite commit to a project long enough before changing my mind.

-Aymar