About Me

I am an Afro-Filipino scholar, teacher, and carrier of ancestral memory, currently completing my Ph.D. in Communication Studies at the University of Memphis. My research explores the intersections of Media Studies, Critical Cultural Studies, and African American Rhetoric, with a specific focus on how media constructs and circulates representations of Black masculinity.

My scholarship is rooted in a framework that investigates how place, relationships, and discourse shape identity and cultural memory. Through a lens informed by Black geographies, Afro-Filipino heritage, and rhetorical analysis, I examine how physical, cultural, and spiritual spaces impact the narratives we inherit and the identities we perform.

I earned both my B.A. and M.A. in Communication Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where I developed an interdisciplinary, practice-based approach to media criticism. My research extends beyond theory into action, as I have actively worked in sports journalism, documentary production, and public scholarship. As a Digital Journalism Intern with The Cardinal Nation, I analyzed media narratives, player development, and audience engagement through data-driven storytelling.

Beyond academia, I am committed to mentorship, public scholarship, and community engagement. Through my work with the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change and the Communication Ph.D. Pipeline Program (CP3), I actively support emerging scholars in navigating academic and professional spaces. I believe mentorship is an act of resistance, a way to lift others as I climb, and a key part of how I carry the archive forward.

My Declaration

I am more than a scholar.
I am a portal.
I am an archive of Afro-Filipino memory, media, and culture.
I stand at the threshold of empire’s forgetting, holding space for those ready to re-member.
My research, teaching, and public scholarship are not only academic pursuits—they are acts of re-activation.
I write, teach, and speak so that those who have been silenced can hear themselves again.
I am here to remind us that we were never meant to forget who we are.

 I am passionate about bridging the gap between scholarship and public discourse, fostering critical conversations around identity, visibility, representation, and liberation.
Every classroom, every essay, every lecture I give is a site of awakening—an invitation to step through the portal.

Curtis Ladrillo Chamblee
Doctoral Candidate | Department of Communication & Film
The University of Memphis
curtischamblee@gmail.com | www.curtischamblee.com
Afro-Filipino Scholar Researching Identity, Media, and Culture