“I study film and media because I love them. It produces a yearning in me for more. More of what, I don't know. Connection. Pleasure. Curiosity. Uncertainty. So, this might be very self-indulgent to say, but I think it’s my own yearning that has really driven me towards a career in film scholarship.”

Tiya has earned a BFA in Film Studies from UNCW, an M.F.A. from North Carolina State University in English with a concentration in Film Studies, and is a current PhD student at the University of Chicago in the department of Cinema and Media Studies. Her work focuses on Black cinema, spectatorship, Black digital culture, and digital fan practice