Curriculum Vitae
Contents: CV (PDF) | Education | Research & Teaching Experience | Military & Veteran Services | MILITARY Experience | Speaking Events | Publications | Service & Leadership | Awards & grants | Affiliations
Overview: I received my commission into the US Navy in 2007 from the US Naval Academy where I studied international relations and Chinese. After graduation, I reported to Sasebo, Japan, and served onboard the USS Harpers Ferry. I then served on Mine Countermeasures Division Three One in San Diego, CA, as the Future Operations Officer; studied Korean Language at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA; and continued to the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission as the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission Liaison Officer in Seoul, Republic of Korea. In Korea, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia which led to my transfer to Commander Naval Surface Forces in San Diego, CA, as the Executive Assistant to the Executive Director. In 2014, I medically retired from the Navy.
From 2014 – 2016, I continued treatment for leukemia (chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant). I also continued courses at San Diego State University via their open enrollment program. I attended French and Korean language courses and linguistics courses. In 2015, I decided to apply to linguistics programs for graduate school. I was accepted into Georgetown’s MS in linguistics program in 2016 but deferred a year to receive a bone marrow transplant. I began the linguistics MS program in 2017 and reapplied/matriculated as a PhD student in 2019.
Below “begins” with my education background, interlaces tangential/complementary experiences, returns to my military experience, before detailing a few achievements.
Education
Ph.D., Linguistics, defended August 2022
- Georgetown University, Washington DC
- Dissertation: Student Veterans’ Discourse about Decisions, Transitions, and Communities of Practice: Positioning, Storylines, Master Narratives, and Intertextuality
Master of Science, Linguistics, 2019
- Georgetown University, Washington DC
- Thesis: “I have the deck!” Power, style, and leadership in LGBTQ sea-stories
Bachelor of Science, International Relations, 2007
- U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
- Minor, Mandarin Chinese
Research & Teaching Experience
Research Associate, Fors Marsh Group (2023 – Present)
Qualitative Researcher
Military Workplace Climate Research
- Government contractor with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Office of People Analytics (OPA).
- Primary portfolio is the Comprehensive Integrated Primary Prevention (CIPP) System and its integration into the Command Climate Assessment and Defense Organizational Climate Survey (DEOCS) environments.
Adjunct Professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks (2023 – Present)
Department of Communication
- COM121: Interpersonal communication and public speaking
- Spring 2023, Fall 2023
- Proficient in learning management systems (LMS), specifically Canvas for implementing virtual and asynchronous teaching.
Teaching Assistant, Georgetown University (2021-2022)
Department of Linguistics
- LING 283: Language and Society
- Spring 2021, Spring 2022
- LING 405: The Discourse of Social Media
- Fall 2021
Research Mentor, Georgetown University (2020-2021)
Department of Linguistics
- Advised and trained two linguistics undergraduate students as research assistants to use MAXQDA (a qualitative discourse analytic tool) to code data.
Research Assistant, Georgetown University (2020)
Department of Linguistics
- Synthesized literature about COVID-19 implications on marginalized ethnic communities regarding access to healthcare and technology resources.
- Supported research about Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) for a grant proposal for the MA in Education Transformation graduate program.
Military & Veteran Services Experience
Joining the SVA Board of Directors has been an eye-opening experience in which I am both learning how one of the largest veteran services organizations supports our military and veteran populations in college and how an organization can continue to grow by listening to younger members of the community.
Member, Board of Directors, Student Veterans of America (2022 – Present)
- Review outcomes and metrics created by SVA for evaluating mission impact.
- Serve on the nominations and governance committee and the finance and development committee.
- Advise organizational programming to advance LGBTQ inclusion and promote diversity.
Graduate Assistant, Campus Veterans Office (July 2019 – December 2021)
- Streamlined prospective student advising and coached over 200 prospective undergraduate and graduate students in VA education benefits, campus resources, and scholarship resources.
- Collaborated with and supported the Office of Advancement and Development to guide prospective donors and philanthropists with their gifts to the university.
- Assisted university leadership in the hiring of the directors of the LGBTQ Resource Center and the Military and Veterans Resource Center.
Military Experience
Surface Warfare Officer
United States Navy, 2007 – 2014
Executive Assistant to the Executive Director
Commander Naval Surface Forces, US Pacific Fleet, 2012 – 2014
San Diego, CA
- Regulated and supervised travel requirements during the 2013 US budget sequestration.
- Worked across a matrix organization in support of the Executive Director’s duties and responsibilities.
- Coordinated and planned the Executive Director’s travels (e.g., air and ground transport) and business meetings in the Pentagon and in Norfolk, VA, and Washington, DC, naval installations.
- Corresponded with flag/general officers and their civilian equivalents on behalf of the Executive Director.
Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission Liaison Officer
United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, 2011 – 2012
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Easily one of my most memorable experiences in the Navy – working alongside allies to maintain the Military Armistice Agreement.
- Adapted to a multinational work environment that consisted of complex matrix organizations – coordinating with U.S. State Department officials and international partners to the United Nations Command.
- Supported NNSC responsibilities such as coordinating 8 site surveys along the 251 KM long Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to ensure educational facilities were clear of minefields and safe for public visits.
- Coordinated NNSC business meetings with UNC officials, developed and synthesized meeting minutes for UNCMAC commander, and presented to the UNC commander.
Future Operations Planning Officer
Commander Mine Countermeasures, Division Three One, 2010 – 2011
San Diego, CA
- Handpicked to lead and facilitate planning conferences for three major fleet exercises, employing expertise of senior commanders to identify critical operational needs and ensure achievement of Fleet Commander’s strategic needs.
Combat Information Center Officer
USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), 2007 – 2010
Sasebo, Japan
- Led and managed a 20-personnel division responsible for the operation of communications, detection, and weapons systems essential for controlling air, ground, and naval operations.
- Demonstrated intercultural communication competencies in the negotiation of 23 bilateral humanitarian disaster relief exercises with foreign national partners in SE Asia to plan Exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT 2009).
- Collaborated directly with foreign national officers from Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia, Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia to plan humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) exercises to develop amphibious interoperability.
Speaking Events
Summary: I’ve presented and have been invited to share my research at both academic and non-academic, and military and non-military spaces. I’ve presented at the Linguistic Society of America and the Georgetown University Round Table (GURT) – but also the National Communication Association, the Inter-University Seminar for the Armed Forces and Society, and the Eastern Sociological Society.
Conference Presentations
Mararac, N. M. (2022, March). “Queering the military: Performing heterosexuality in leadership.” Paper presented at the 92nd Eastern Sociological Society mini-Military Conference in Boston, MA.
Mararac, N. M. (2022, January). “Queering the military: Thank you for your service.” Paper presented at the 96th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America in Washington, DC.
Mararac, N. M. (2021, November). “’I have the deck!’: Negotiating power in the discursive production of leadership.” Paper presented at the National Communication Associations 107th Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington.
Mararac, N. M. (2021, October). “Leadership style in “sea-stories” narratives by LGBT Naval Officers”. Paper presented at the 2021 Biennial International Conference of the Inter-University Seminar on the Armed Forced and Society in Reston, Virginia.
Mararac, N. M. (2020, January) “Leadership style in “sea-stories” narratives by LGBT Naval Officers”. Paper presented at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Mararac, N.M. (2019, May). “’I have the deck’: Leadership, gender, and sexual identity construction in U.S. Navy sea stories”. Paper presented at the Lavender Languages and Linguistics 26th annual conference in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mararac, N. M. (2018, March). “Identity construction in a gentrifying neighborhood through the lens of face and face-work”. Paper presented at the Georgetown University Roundtable (GURT), 2018, in Washington, DC.
Co-Presentations
May, A., Hinojosa Hernandez, L., McDermott, V.M., Erdemandi, M., Mararac, N.M., Truban, O. (2022, November). “High alert: Military-civilian relations in times of domestic and international security threats.” National Communication Association’s 108th Convention in New Orleans, LA.
May, A., McDermott, V.M., Erdemandi, M., Hinojosa Hernandez, L., Mararac, N.M. (2021). “Stand down: Extremism and white nationalism in the United States Military.” National Communication Association’s 107th Convention in Seattle, WA.
Desnoyers-Colas, E., May., A., McDermott, V.M., Hinojosa Hernandez, L., McFarlane, M., Mararac, N.M. (2021). “Transforming connections between feminist and gender studies and military communication studies scholarship and praxis.” National Communication Association’s 107th Convention in Seattle, WA.
Invited Talks & Panels
Queering the military: How ideologies about gender and sexuality shape(d) the U.S. Armed Forces.
(2022, July). Talking Politics 2023: Silence and Voices in Global Media, University of Chicago.
- Watch the video!
- Read the recap! (by Kate Arnold-Murray)
Rewriting the narrative of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
(2022, July). Panel discussion hosted by the Washington, DC Mayor’s office of Veterans Affairs. Invited to share my experience serving during DADT and the challenges moving forward.
Department of Homeland Security’s Virtual Career and Education Symposium.
(2021, July). Panel discussion hosted by the Department of Homeland Security. Invited to represent veteran services at Georgetown University and speak about university programming.
Room at the Table: Locating Asian identity in the LSA and the academy.
(2021, January). Linguistic Society of America’s 95th Annual Meeting. Collaborated with Asian American scholars in linguistics to examine race, race relations, and diversity in the context of higher education; and co-hosted a workshop to examine the intersection of queer and Asian identity research in linguistics.
F-formation as transcription.
(2020, March). Guest lectured in the Multimodal Interaction Analysis seminar in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University to discuss methods for capturing multimodal interaction in transcription.
Young adult cancer and military service.
(2020, March). Guest lectured in Introduction to Medical Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at Georgetown University.
Gender and sexuality in “doing” leadership
(2020, March) Guest speaker in the Federal Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Culture Committee Meeting.
Symposium: Toward an intersectional linguistics.
(2020, January) Linguistic Society of America’s 94th Annual Meeting. Participated as a discussant with panel speakers about intersectional research and opportunities to influence social impact.
The lived experiences of transgender service members and veterans.
(2019, December) Planned and moderated panel discussion with USN veteran Paula Neira, USA veteran Charlotte Clymer, and 1ST Karen Holmes, US Veteran Reserve Corps.
Workshop Facilitator
Vet Ally: 1.0 & 2.0
(2018 November; 2019, November). Hosted by the Georgetown University Veterans Office for administrators and faculty members to address the unique strengths, challenges, and realities of student veterans and military-connected students in the classroom.
IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Social Justice) For the Future: An Inclusion Nextwork Summit.
(2019, August) Facilitated a workshop about language awareness in leadership.
Publications
Mararac, N.M. (2023, August). Joshua Kelley: Queering leadership by serving looks and country. Modern Military Magazine.
https://online.fliphtml5.com/dchey/cqmg/#p=14
McDermott, V. […], Mararac, N.M. et al. (2022). Stand down: A Journal of Applied Communication Research forum on extremism and white nationalism in the United States Military. Journal of Applied Communication Research.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2022.2128620
Schyllander, A. […], Mararac, N.M. et al. (June 2022). LGBTQ+ inclusion in the gender, peace & security agenda: A policy brief. DC Student Consortium on Women, Peace & Security.
https://www.wpsconsortium.org/policy-briefs/project-one-5358e-7grrw
Mararac, N. M. (2021, June). Queering the military: Doing “being a heterosexual” during Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Linguistic Society of America’s Committee on LGBTQ+[Z] Issues in Linguistics.
https://www.linguisticsociety.org/content/queering-military-doing-%E2%80%9Cbeing-heterosexual%E2%80%9D-during-don%E2%80%99t-ask-don%E2%80%99t-tell
Mararac, N. M. (Forthcoming). Queering the military: Performing heterosexuality as a leader. In T.E. Kibbey (Ed.), Linguistics out of the closet: The interdisciplinarity of gender and sexuality in language science. De Gruyter.
Service & Leadership
Academic Service
Ad Hoc Reviewer (2022-present)
- Wiley Publishers, book proposal
- Sage Journals, Armed Forces and Society, journal article
Coordinator, Interactional Linguistics Laboratory (2019-2020)
- Facilitated collaboration between seasoned scholars and students on current projects.
- Administered data workshops focusing on critiquing colleagues’ projects on design, methodology, analysis, and publication.
Leadership
President, Georgetown University Student Veterans Association (2020-2021)
- Awarded Chapter of the Year 2021 by Student Veterans of America and recognized by the Department of Education and Department of Veterans Affairs for service to veterans.
- Coordinated 9 volunteer events, recruited over 75 volunteers, and completed 270 hours of community service during the Fall 2021 semester.
- Collaborated with the University President’s Office to queer Veterans Day 2021 – acknowledging the service of LGBTQ+ service members and veterans 10 years after the repeal of DADT.
- Advocated on behalf of military-connected students resulting in an increase of Yellow Ribbon Program funding to $8000 for undergraduate students and matching YRP funding increases for all future increases in tuition across all campus programs.
- Initiated Women Vets @ GU to elevate the needs and concerns of women student veterans.
President, GradPride (2019-2020)
- Initiated Spectra Alliance – an umbrella organization for all LGBTQ+ students and allies at Georgetown University to promote collaboration on DEI initiatives on campus.
- Organized campus-wide event consisting of a panel discussion with transgender service members and veterans to educate the Georgetown community about gender diversity in the military.
Co-President, Georgetown Linguistics Student Association (2018-2019)
- Initiated and recruited 15 students for a student mentor program. Incoming students were matched with mentors based on linguistic concentration and personal interest.
- Held weekly coffee hour to facilitate community among department colleagues.
Volunteer
Court Appointed Special Advocate, CASA DC (2016-2020)
- Trained to assist and mentor youth in the US foster care system to develop key life skills in preparation for aging out of the system.
- Appointed to a high school-aged unaccompanied refugee minor and assisted with building life skills, transitioning to the US education system, and applying to colleges.
Awards, Recognitions & Grants
Awards & Recognitions
2022 Out Leaders
Out in National Security
2021 Chapter of the Year
Student Veterans of America
2021 Student Veteran Organization of the Year
Georgetown University
2020 Certificate of Excellence
Outstanding Graduate Assistant in Jesuit Student Affairs
Grants
| Fall 2021 | Georgetown University Linguistic Dept. Travel Grant |
| Fall 2021 | Georgetown University Graduate School Travel Grant |
| Spring 2020 | Georgetown University Linguistic Dept. Travel Grant |
| Spring 2020 | Georgetown University Graduate School Grant |
| Spring 2019 | Georgetown University Linguistic Dept. Travel Grant |
| Spring 2019 | Georgetown University Graduate School Travel Grant |
Affiliations
Protégé, HillVets Lead Cohort Seven
- Selected as a protégé for Cohort 7 to identify challenges and opportunities for government and community leaders in advancing support for veterans and their families.
Director, Board of Directors, Student Veterans of America, 2021 – present
Fellow, Student Veterans of America Leadership Institute, 2022
- Selected as the top 10% of student veteran leaders among 1500 SVA chapters.
Member, National Communication Association, 2019-present
Member, Linguistic Society of America, 2017-present
Member, Inter-University Seminar, Armed Forces & Society, 2019-present
Nick Mararac | Research 