Postdoctoral Teaching Associate Donica O’Malley, Department of Communications Studies, was recently recognized with the 2019 Best Dissertation of the Year Award from the American Studies Division of the National Communication Association (NCA). The dissertation, “From Redhead to Ginger: Othering Whiteness in New Media,” was highly praised by fellow communication educators and scholars. In her work, O’Malley follows the history of the term ginger and prejudices against red-headed people—and of this particular moment as it engages whiteness as an identity category.

Read the full press release from the University of Pittsburg, and check out more coverage of the recent NCA Convention here.