Kai Prins

Kai Prins (they/them) is a PhD candidate studying Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture in the department of Communication Arts. Using feminist and queer theory as an orientation to criticism, Kai studies the rhetorical influence of economics and/on embodied gender performance in neoliberal consumer culture. Their research interests include the marketing and advertising of social issues, the convergence of wellness and new media, and drag performance. Kai is the Graduate Representative for the Economics, Communication, and Society Division of the National Communication Association, as well as the co-President of the UW-Madison Student Chapter of the Rhetoric Society of America. They recently co-edited a special issue of Queer Studies in Media and Popular Culture on “Posthuman Drag,” and other research has appeared in journals such as Feminist Media Studies, Health Communication, and QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking. In their spare time, Kai is an award-winning drag and burlesque performer known as Will X. Uly (pronounced “Will Actually”).