Nandi Pointer

Nandi Pointer is a PhD Candidate in Media Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. A former journalist and TV producer, Pointer studies questions about media, race, and identity. Incorporating writing and documentary filmmaking, her dissertation examines how and why Black men leave the U.S. to teach English in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and what their experiences illuminate about the global dynamics of race and racism. A recipient of the 2025 IAMCR Stuart Hall Award and the 2025 Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the CU Boulder’s Center for Humanities and the Arts (CHA), Pointer sits on the steering committee of the Visual Evidence Lab. She has produced content for Netflix, MTV, Fox, and TV One. Her written work has been published both in academic journals like New Media & Society and Jump Cut and news magazines including The San Francisco Chronicle, Essence, and Upscale. In spring 2026, Pointer will be a visiting fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Experimental Ethnography.