Brianna Yoder, Ph.D.

Bio

They say what goes around comes back around and that’s certainly true for my journey from and back to UTSA. I graduated from UTSA in 2012 as one of the first Multidisciplinary Studies students (I had concentrations in Legal Studies, Honors Studies, and Sociology) and worked on various political campaigns across Texas. I took one look at life outside of the academy and promptly went back to school to realize a dream I’d had since I was young: earning a Ph.D. I started with a master’s degree in public administration at the University of Georgia and enjoyed it so much that I continued in the discipline and department for the doctorate. I came back home to San Antonio and leaped at the opportunity to not only teach at UTSA, but teach in the Multidisciplinary Studies program. Working in the Multidisciplinary studies program has given me the opportunity to help students articulate how they’re going to use their degree in the same way I have: to fulfill their passion and chart their own course. I want to show my students that they should be proud of their interests and stories and never make themselves smaller.

I spend a not insignificant amount of my free time creating overly complicated PowerPoint slides for class based on my favorite anime or pop music artists’ aesthetics. I also spend a lot of time crocheting and cross-stitching, playing Pokemon Go, and (during the season) watching football with my wife (my college sweetheart whom I met as a Supplemental Instruction Leader at UTSA).