Heidi’s teaching and research focus on feminist theory, black studies, critical media studies, critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, social justice, and activism. Her essay “An Examination of the Kanye West’s Higher Education Trilogy,” was published in The Cultural Impact of Kanye West, and her article “Let Me Just Taste You: Li’l Wayne and Rap’s Politics of Cunnlingus” was published in the Journal of Popular Culture. She is also the author of forthcoming essays that examine FX’s “The Shield,” the branding of the FX Network, VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop” franchise, and Bravo’s “Married to Medicine.” She has given talks at Kim Bevill’s Gender and the Brain Conference, the Educating Children of Color Summit, the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement, the Gender and Media Spring Convocation at Ohio University, and the Conference for Pre-Tenure Women at Purdue University, where she earned a Ph.D. in American Studies (2011) and a Certificate in Women’s Studies (2008). She has also been a contributor to Mark Anthony Neal’s “NewBlackMan,” NPR’s “Here and Now,” KOAA news in Colorado Springs, and KRCC radio (the Southeastern Colorado NPR affiliate), Bitch Media, Racialicious, and Act Out.