curriculum vitae
Education
University of Southern California, PhD (in progress), Communication, 2020 [Advisor: Larry Gross; Committee Members: Sarah Banet-Weiser, Sandra Ball-Rokeach]
George Washington University, BA Honors, Political communication, magna cum laude, 2014 [Advisor: Kimberly Gross]
Research Interests
Transgender identity in American politics; transgender representations in mainstream media; queerness in public discourse and popular culture; processes of production and encoding in graphic design and typography; visual identity in political campaigns
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Walter, Nathan, Thomas J Billard, and Sheila T. Murphy. Forthcoming. “On the Boundaries of Framing Terrorism: Guilt, Victimization, and the 2016 Orlando Shooting.” Mass Communication and Society. doi:10.1080/15205436.2017.1334071
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Fonts of Potential: Areas for Typographic Research in Political Communication.” International Journal of Communication 10: 4570–4592.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Writing in the Margins: Mainstream News Media Representations of Transgenderism.” International Journal of Communication 10: 4193–4218.
Book Chapters
Moran, Rachel E., and Thomas J Billard. Forthcoming. “Imagining Resistance to Trump through the Networked Branding of the National Park Service.” In Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination: A Casebook, edited by Henry Jenkins, Sangita Shresthova, and Gabriel Peters-Lazaro. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Billard, Thomas J. Forthcoming. “‘Passing’ and the Politics of Deception: Transgender Bodies, Cisgender Aesthetics, and the Policing of Inconspicuous Marginal Identities.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication, edited by Tony Docan-Morgan. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Capuzza, Jamie C., Leland G. Spencer, Thomas J Billard, E. Tristan Booth, matthew heinz, Sarah Jones, and Lucy J. Miller. Forthcoming. “Transing Communication Education: A Chorus of Voices.” In Queer Communication Pedagogy, edited by Ahmet Atay and Sandra L. Pensoneau-Conway. New York, NY: Routledge.
Billard, Thomas J, and Brian L. MacAuley. Forthcoming. “‘It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Transgender Superhero!’ Transgender Characters in Marvel, DC, and Image Comics.” In Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes in Children’s Entertainment Media, edited by CarrieLynn D. Reinhard and Christopher J. Olson. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Jenkins, Henry, and Thomas J Billard, with Samantha Close, Yomna Elsayed, Michelle C. Forelle, Rogelio Lopez, and Emilia Yang. Forthcoming. “Participatory.” In Keywords in Remix Studies, edited by Eduardo Navas, Owen Gallagher, and xtine burrough. New York, NY: Routledge.
Book Reviews
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. Review of Transgender Communication Studies: Histories, Trends, and Trajectories, edited by Leland G. Spencer and Jamie C. Capuzza. Journal of Communication 66 (2): E11–E13. doi:10.1111/jcom.12224
White Papers
Ulasevich, Alec, and Thomas J Billard. 2015. “Quick Look at Millennial Voters: Predictors of Voting in the 2014 Midterm Elections.” Rockville, MD: EurekaFacts, LLC.
Scholarly Presentations
Refereed Conference Presentations
Billard, Thomas J, and Brian L. MacAuley. 2017. “‘It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Transgender Superhero!’ Transgender Characters in Marvel, DC, and Image Comics.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Dallas, Texas, November 16-19.
Walter, Nathan, Thomas J Billard, and Sheila T. Murphy. 2017. “Rethinking the Framing Paradigm: An Experimental Case Study of the 2016 Orlando Shooting.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, Dallas, Texas, November 16-19.
Billard, Thomas J, and Ruthie Kelly. 2017. “Setting the Transgender Agenda.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, California, August 31-September 3.
Billard, Thomas J. 2017. “Media System Dependency and Corrections to Transgender Political Misinformation.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, California, August 31-September 3.
Billard, Thomas J. 2017. “Aesthetic Subsidy: Design Cuts and the Changing Labor of Graphic Designers in the Network Society.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montréal, Canada, August 12-15.
Billard, Thomas J. 2017. “Fast Friends? Differences in the Parasocial Effects of Binge-Watched Television Programs.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, San Diego, California, May 25-29.
Billard, Thomas J. 2017. “Digital Transitions: Investigating Content Differences in Legacy Press and Digital-Native Online News Coverage of Transgender Topics.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, San Diego, California, May 25-29.
Billard, Thomas J, and Rachel E. Moran. 2017. “Where are the American Panel Shows? A Comparative Study of Political Content in British and American Late Night Comedy Programmes.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, San Diego, California, April 12-15.
Capuzza, Jamie C., Leland G. Spencer, Thomas J Billard, E. Tristan Booth, matthew heinz, Sarah Jones, and Lucy J. Miller. 2017. “Transing Communication Education: A Chorus of Voices for Innovating Transgender Pedagogy.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern States Communication Association, Greenville, South Carolina, April 5-9.
Billard, Thomas J. 2017. “Branding Murder: The Ambivalent Participatory Politics of Transgender Day of Remembrance.” Paper presented at the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 24-26.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “The Evolution of Transgender Women in Mainstream Comics.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Women’s Studies Association, Montréal, Canada, November 10-13.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Ambivalent Identities in Transgender Political Advocacy.” Paper presented at the 1st annual Trans*Studies Conference, Tucson, Arizona, September 7-10.
Billard, Thomas J, and Ruthie Kelly. 2016. “Designed to Win: The Visual Identities of American Presidential Candidates.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 1-4.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “Constructing Transgender Identity in Restroom-Related Policy Debates.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 1-4.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “The Transgender Body as Artistic Creation: Journalists’ Aesthetic Evaluations of Transgender Identity.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Fukuoka, Japan, June 9-13.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “In a Wibbly-Wobbly Time and Place: Queer Temporality in the BBC’s Doctor Who.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Seattle, Washington, March 22-25.
Billard, Thomas J. 2015. “Writing in the Margins: Mainstream News Media Representations of Transgenderism.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 21-25.
Symposium Participation
Walter, Nathan, Thomas J Billard, and Chris Robbins. 2017. “On the Boundaries of Framing Terror: Guilt, Victimization, and the 2016 Orlando Shooting.” Paper presented at the 8th annual Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Symposium, Los Angeles, California, April 5.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “The Graphic Design of the 2016 Presidential Candidates.” Paper presented at the 8th annual Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Symposium, Los Angeles, California, April 21.
Grants
Annenberg Doctoral Student Summer Research Fellowship, 2016
$2,500: Research grant
International Communication Association Political Communication Division, 2015
$300: Travel grant
International Communication Association, 2015
$100: Travel grant
Honors & Awards
Consortium on Media Policy Studies (COMPASS) Fellowship, 2017
Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Award, 2017
$1,000: Research award
Annenberg Graduate Fellowship Research and Creative Project Award, 2016
$500: Research award
Annenberg Graduate Fellowship, 2015 - present
George Washington University Board of Trustees Scholarship, 2010 - 2014
Sigma Alpha Lambda
Delta Phi Alpha
Teaching Experience
Teaching Assistant (Reader)
COMM 209: Communication and Media Economics (USC), Spring 2017
COMM 313: Communication and Mass Media (USC), Fall 2016
Guest Lectures
Billard, Thomas J. 2017. “Changing Media, Changing Effects.” Lecture, China Future Creative Class from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, January 11.
Billard, Thomas J. 2016. “News and Politics.” Class lecture, COMM 313: Communication and Mass Media from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, November 7.
Research Appointments
EurekaFacts, LLC, Research Analyst, 2015
Research Affiliations
Civic Paths, 2016 - present
Metamorphosis Project, 2017 - present
Scenario Lab, 2016 - present
Professional Memberships
American Political Science Association (APSA), 2016 - present
American Sociological Association (ASA), 2017 – present
Critical Mixed Race Studies Association (CMRS), 2016 - present
International Communication Association (ICA), 2014 - present
National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), 2016 - present
National Communication Association (NCA), 2015 - present
National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), 2016 - present
Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (PCA/ACA), 2015 - present
Service to the Profession
Committee Member
APSA Political Communication Division Nominating Committee, 2017 – present
Journal Reviewer
Communication, Culture & Critique, 2016 - present
Journalism Practice, 2016 – present
Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 2016 - present
Transgender Studies Quarterly, 2016 - present
Conference Reviewer
ICA LGBTQ Studies Interest Group, 2015 - present
ICA Political Communication Division, 2015 - present
ICA Popular Communication Division, 2015 - present
ICA Visual Communication Division, 2015 - present
service to the institution
Annenberg Communication Graduate Student Association (USC), Treasurer, 2016 - 2017
professional certifications
Adobe Certified Associate (ACA), Visual Communication using Photoshop, 2016