Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations
Wilson Hall, Room 316
371 Wilson Boulevard
Rochester,
MI
48309-4486
(location map)
(248) 370-4120
General Department Questions:
CJPR
Professor
Office: 304A Wilson
Phone: (248) 370-4133
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Hay earned her Ph.D. in Communication from Ohio State University and she specializes in critical cultural studies. Her work focuses on the ways groups use different cultural forms, such as music, dance, poetry and comics, to build alliances and forge social change.
Her work has examined both people and policy. Dr. Hay has worked with Arab American communities to study how diasporic groups negotiate multiple national attachments through music, protest, and dance. She has also studied policies, like the Patriot Act, questioning their abilities to strip away fundamental rights of citizenship and grant heavy government surveillance.
Dr. Hay teaches courses in multicultural and performance communication. Her work has been published in various journals, including The Quarterly Journal of Speech, International Journal of Communication, Journal of American Culture and International and Intercultural Annual. Her book with Dr. Rebekah Farrugia, Women Rapping Revolution: Hip Hop and Community Building in Detroit, explores how the hip hop underground is a crucial site where Black women shape subjectivity and claim self-care as a principle of community organizing.