I am a PhD student in political science at Rutgers University majoring in the field of Women and Politics and minoring in Methodology and Comparative Politics. My research interrogates the relationship between the development of political institutions within liberal democratic regimes and the disciplining of social scientific knowledge production as it implicates core substantive concepts such as democracy and representation as well as the methods by which these phenomena are conventionally studied. Starting from the position that interlocking systems of heteropatriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism found a liberal-positivist nexus that perpetuates epistemic and political institutional exclusions of historically marginalized groups, I argue for a critical reconceptualization of democracy and representation that acknowledges the role of power and lived experience in the making of meaning. Before coming to Rutgers, I completed an MS in political science at Portland State University and a BS in political science at Boise State University. At Boise State, I was a member of the Talkin’ Broncos national championship speech and debate team. I coached debate in Daegu, Korea for four years prior to beginning my graduate education. I currently serve as the managing editor for the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy.