Ashton Leach is a current graduate student in Communication Arts with a focus in Film at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in the United States. Before moving to Wisconsin, Ashton was born and raised in Arkansas. There, she attended Hendrix College, a small liberal arts college where she studied history and English with a focus in film and media studies. Her prevailing research focuses on characterization in genre films, concentrating on aging and gender in film. At the University of Wisconsin, Ashton teaches Introduction to Public Speaking, and she has found a passion for working with undergraduate students