Amelia Pridemore, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

Hometown

• Chapmanville, West Virginia

Schools attended

• Florida International University (Ph.D., Public Affairs)
• Marshall University (M.A., Political Science and B.A., Journalism)

Things we can talk about

Well, students who seek me out will often do so because I provide straight-up, unvarnished advice when it comes to navigating the job market, building careers, and academic success in both the present and future. I sugar-coat nothing! My research specialties also include music as political communication and music in public policy. So, students who really dig music like to talk about the deeper aspects of how music provides a voice to the disenfranchised and how it can change hearts and minds. Now, metal is my specialty, but I love to hear about and discuss my students’ favorite music, regardless of what it is.

My previous life, before academia, was working as a police beat journalist. I have a few stories to tell, including my time as a military embed in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I also have quite a few stories to tell from my time working with quite colorful entertainers and artists during my dissertation fieldwork in Austin, Texas, and New Orleans.

I am available for

Conversations and any advice that is within my professional scope. Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Why I want to be a Maverick Firsts advocate

The main reason I pursued and earned a Ph.D. was to have the chance to work with first-generation students — a way to pay it forward and be the professor like those I was so fortunate to have. I was a first-generation student from the West Virginia coalfields region, and it was a fight just to get to college, much less earn three degrees (one of them, terminal) and have a professional career in between. I know what it’s like to sometimes have to rely on public assistance. I know what it’s like to have to work a physically demanding service industry job while going to school full-time. I know what it’s like to, when it feels like you’ve finally reached a major point of career and academic success, feel like you’re in a deeper chasm.

The world from which you came is on one side, and you can never return. A world you want to reach seems like it’s never quite in reach. It can be a lonely place. I want our Maverick Firsts to know, though, that if they feel like they’re in that chasm, they’re not alone. More importantly, I’ve navigated this road and have the practical life experience to show our first-generation students that, yes, there is light even when feeling like they may be in a chasm, too. I’m here as a guide.

Other things that might interest you

I’m an intensely devoted amateur musician. I’ve played guitar since I was 13, and so I can also talk shop about music in a more casual fashion. You can easily discover that and the fact that I’m a major Harry Potter nerd when visiting my office. I consider myself a Gryffindor/Ravenclaw hybrid, but Hufflepuffs and Slytherins are welcome too! While I’m a first-generation college grad, I’m a fourth-generation “garage brat”. I’m a gearhead who loves to talk about anything automotive. I’m also a devoted “cat mom”, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, my darling Domino never failed to put on a show for my students while I lectured on Zoom.