Graduate Student Spotlight: Damon Darling Publishes in the Journal of Homosexuality

The Department of Communication is proud to share that graduate student Damon Darling recently published a new article titled “H(a)unting Grounds: Exorcising the Queer Ghosts of Metronormativity” in the Journal of Homosexuality.

In this essay, Damon examines the myth of metronormative safety through the metaphor of the “hunting grounds,” exploring how queer bodies navigate violence across both rural and urban spaces. The article draws on theoretical frameworks of queer ruralism and metronormativity to reconsider how violence against queer individuals is recorded and remembered. Damon reanimates the archive as an active, embodied space of queer experience, challenging static understandings of history and offering new ways of performing remembrance.

By tracing these histories across geographic landscapes, Damon’s work reveals how violence and belonging transform as queer individuals move between rural and metropolitan spaces. Ultimately, “H(a)unting Grounds” invites readers to reflect on what remains of the queer self through encounters with violence—being haunted and hunted—and what that reveals about queer time, space, and survival.

Read the full article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YQ8NEN4SMW62TIXQANTK/full?target=10.1080/00918369.2025.2569361#abstract

Damon is a third-year PhD student and Graduate Teaching Instructor/Assistant in the Department of Communication. He received his Master’s degree in Communication Studies with a research focus on Gender, Sex, and Media from San Diego State University. Over the past five years, he has taught courses including Argumentation, Advanced Public Speaking, Gender Communication, and the History of Propaganda and Persuasion at three different universities.

At the University of Utah, Damon’s research centers on Queer Ecologies and Art-Based Research/Narrative Methodologies. He employs qualitative, rhetorical, and performative methods to examine how queer communities relate to and find meaning in the environments around them. His scholarship has received recognition at both regional and national levels, earning Top Paper Awards in Performance Studies, Intercultural Communication, LGBTQ Studies, Organizational Communication, and Argumentation, as well as a President’s Spotlight Award from the Organization for Feminist Research on Gender Communication. He was also recognized as one of San Diego State University’s top graduate students in 2022-2023.

Outside of academia, Damon enjoys painting, ceramics, camping, hiking, reading, and spending time with his cat.