Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz

Natalie Fixmer-Oraiz is the F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, affiliated with the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on rhetoric, cultural studies, and reproductive justice, with notable work examining intersections between motherhood, national security, and reproductive politics. She holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Duke University.

Her first book, Homeland Maternity: US Security Culture and the New Reproductive Regime (2019), won the James A. Winans-Herbert A. Wichelns Memorial Award and explores how discourses of motherhood align with U.S. security narratives. She co-authored the textbook Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture and serves on editorial boards for journals such as Quarterly Journal of Speech. Her current research collaborations with Sharon Yam investigate feminist approaches to reproductive healthcare and gender in family formation.

Fixmer-Oraiz teaches courses in rhetorical theory, gender studies, and social movements, emphasizing experiential learning and community engagement. She actively participates in reproductive justice initiatives and advocates for pedagogical practices that bridge theory and activism. Her work has appeared in journals like Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies and Women’s Studies in Communication.

Key awards include the RSA Book Award Finalist (2020), an American Fellowship (2011-12), and the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award (2012). Her research intersects rhetoric, cultural analysis, and feminist praxis to address contemporary social issues.