Lauren Feldman
Chair and Professor of Journalism and Media Studies
Faculty, PhD JMS Faculty
Biography
Lauren Feldman studies the effects of media on public knowledge, opinion, and behavior, particularly in the contexts of political, science, and environmental issues. Her recent research emphasizes three primary areas of interest: climate change communication, partisan media and misinformation, and comedy and social change. She teaches courses on entertainment and politics, media effects, media and climate change, and quantitative research methods.
Feldman has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. She is co-author (with Caty Borum) of A Comedian and an Activist Walk into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice (University of California Press, 2020). Her research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Spanish Ministry of Science, and the Carnegie-Knight Task Force on Journalism, among other funders, and has been recognized with various academic awards. Feldman serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Science Communication, and Environmental Communication, and she is an affiliate of the Rutgers Climate & Energy Institute and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. She also served on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine's committee on "Understanding and Addressing Misinformation about Science."
Feldman’s current research focuses on how climate change is communicated in the media and how individuals respond to this information. She is studying the effects of solutions-focused messages on climate policy support and political behavior, the role of hope in climate change communication, and strategies for communicating about climate justice.
Education
Ph.D., Communication, University of Pennsylvania
M.A., Communication, University of Pennsylvania
B.A., English, Duke University