Hadassah Ward Hill

M. Hadassah Ward (they/she), is a doctoral candidate (Ph.D. “ABD”) in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Boulder. Their current research focuses on how interlocutors use membership categorization talk practices to build identities, draw on various discursive resources, and make sense of a wide range of family member reactions to shifts in one’s identity. They are working on their dissertation project which draws interdisciplinarily on Women & Gender Studies, Religious Studies, and Discourse Analysis/Language & Social Interaction literature while analyzing talk amongst transgender and gender nonconforming people discussing religious family experiences during community-style brunches.

Hadassah is a 2025-2026 Center for Humanities and the Arts JEDI Fellow. She is also pursuing graduate certificates in Women & Gender Studies, CLASP (Culture, Language & Social Practice), Jewish Studies, Future Faculty, and College Teaching. Prior research projects have explored identity for those who have experienced sexual violence, the object of the body in the recollection of Holocaust survivors, and whiteness within popular media discourses around Ukrainian refugees, among other topics. They have been awarded the Samuel L. Becker Award from the Media Studies Interest Group and a Top Four Paper Award from the Performance & Autoethnography Interest Group at the Central States Communication Association 2025 Convention. They have also presented at other top conferences including the National Communication Association, Northeast Popular Culture Association, Language, Interaction & Social Organization (LISO), and the International Communication Association.

Hadassah was one of two 2024-2025 Lead Graduate Teachers for CMDI (at the time, CMCI), a CMCI Inclusive Pedagogy Ambassador, a Learning Assistant Supervisor, and has eight years of instructor of record experience at the university level teaching classes including Discourse, Cultures & Identities, Interpersonal Communication, Public Speaking, and Business Communication, among other courses. They also have additional experience in student affairs, LGBTQPIA+ community affairs, and student housing. Hadassah is passionate about teaching and learning in ways that impact day-to-day perceptions of the world, people, and experiences. They prioritize a person-first, power-equality driven classroom with opportunities for collaboration, real world application, and open discussion.

Hadassah earned their M.A. in Communication at the University of Cincinnati and her B.A. in Communication Studies at Northern Kentucky University. They intend to graduate with their Ph.D. in Communication in the Spring of 2026.