2016 Guest Scholar

ALISA VALENTIN
Ph.D. Student
Howard University

Alisa Valentin is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Communication, Culture and Media Studies program at Howard University. She received her B.S. in Telecommunications from the University of Florida and her M.S. in Journalism from the Medill of School of Journalism at Northwestern University. While at the Medill School of Journalism, she co-directed her first documentary, 50: America’s Historic School Closing, which was later nominated for a National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences award in the Chicago/Midwest chapter.

She is currently a teaching associate in Howard University’s Principles of Speech program, a graduate assistant for the Howard Journal of Communications, and a member of the Howard Media Group, a faculty-student research collaborative focused on communication policy. Her research interests include the intersections of race, class, and gender with communication policy. Alisa’s dissertation is a study that will use a political economy approach to examine cities’ efforts to shape the behavior of major telecommunications companies that provide broadband services to benefit low-income and minority customers, through the contractual agreement process.

Alisa has two forthcoming publications which she co-authored with her dissertation advisor, Dr. Carolyn M. Byerly, which include “Women’s Access to Media: Legal Dimensions of Ownership and Employment in the United States” and “Feminist Perspectives on Critical Information Needs.” Additionally, Alisa has presented at several national and international research conferences—most recently the International Communication Association conference in Fukuoka, Japan. This year Alisa was also selected for the University of Southern California-Annenberg Summer Doctoral Institute on Diversity in Media & Culture and the National Communication Association Doctoral Honors Seminar.

Alisa plans to graduate with her Ph.D. from Howard University in May 2017 and continue her communication policy research that will advocate for marginalized populations.