Laura Partain

Laura Partain is a lecturer in Civic and Global Media. She earned her Ph.D. in Media Sciences and Communication from Indiana University’s Media School in May of 2021, holds an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas-Austin, and graduated with a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Laura is an intergroup and intercultural communication scholar who examines audience receptions of US and global media representations of marginalized communities. As a social scientist in the field of media effects, her research explores cognitive and affective processes as well as the underlying mechanisms that lead to intergroup emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. Laura analyzes socio-political ideologies that underpin audience responses to representations at the intersection of multiple identities, such as race, religion, nationality, and citizenship status. Her research shows how these responses gatekeep marginalized peoples’ access to equal rights, civic participation, and healthcare resources. For example, Laura’s scholarship shows how, over time, socialization into ideological Whiteness shapes automatic, emotional reactions to out-groups, which in turn elicit audience attitudes and behaviors in support of civic and extra-judicial limitations on marginalized communities. Her research focuses on anti-racist sentiment directed at Black Americans, Muslims, immigrants and refugees, Indigenous communities, and Southwest Asian and North Africans (SWANA), specifically Palestinians, Syrians, Iranians, and Lebanese peoples.​