Tara L. Conley is an interdisciplinary scholar, multimedia artist, and Assistant Professor in the School of Media and Journalism at Kent State University. Her work bridges media studies, Black feminist thought, digital humanities, and ethnographic documentary-making, with a sustained commitment to amplifying underrepresented stories of Black life in regions such as the Gulf Coast and the Rust Belt.

Her first feature-length documentary, DRY BONES, returns Tara to her Ohio roots to explore the life of Ike Maxwell - Elyria’s once-celebrated football star whose rise was cut short by tragedy - and the community that refused to let his story disappear. Drawing on informed storytelling, evocative archival imagery, and an electrifying soundtrack rooted in Cleveland’s Boodie Recording legacy, the film offers a powerful meditation on memory, resilience, and the unfinished narratives of Rust Belt America.

Grounded in a rich background in education and digital media innovation, Tara earned her Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University, following an M.A. in Women’s Studies and a B.A. in English. Beyond filmmaking, she founded the Hashtag Feminism digital archive, directed the ethnographic short documentary Brackish, and was awarded the Race and Technology Practitioner Fellowship at Stanford University. Her scholarship appears in journals including Feminist Media Studies, The Black Scholar, and Social Media + Society, and she currently serves on the Rust Belt Studies editorial board.