Jessica Kate Crowell

Jessica Kate Crowell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Digital Media & Journalism at SUNY New Paltz. She holds a PhD in Media Studies/Communication from the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers. Jessica is currently a Kopenhaver Fellow with the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University.

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Jessica is a qualitative methodologist and her approach to teaching, scholarship, and service is grounded in feminist theory and guided by principles of sustainability. Feminist theory facilitates critical inquiry by highlighting forms of systemic oppression and injustice. Said simply, as both a scholar and educator, Jessica is deeply invested in efforts towards creating a more sustainable future through supporting social and environmental justice, particularly as they intersect with new media, work, information access, and digital technology. Her work has appeared in "Transforming Everything? Evaluating Broadband's Impact Across Policy Areas"; Communication, Culture & Critique; Digital Journalism; and, The Journal of Media Literacy Education. In 2023, Jessica was awarded a $10,000 PRODiG grant to study the impact of sustainability education on student learning at SUNY New Paltz. In 2024, Jessica received a Dr. Nuala Drescher Research Leave award through United University Professors (UUP).

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Jessica has taught courses at the intersection of media studies and critical theory, such as Gender, Race, Class and the Media; Media and Popular Culture; Media, Culture and Technology; Media Theory; and, Media and Society. In 2019, Jessica received a grant to develop a new course which explores the intersection of technology and class: Communication Work in the Gig Economy. She previously served as a co-coordinator of the Sustainability Faculty Learning Community at SUNY New Paltz.

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Jessica is also a firm believer in engaged scholarship. As such, she has authored government policy papers and reports on broadband access and economic opportunity in low-income communities for the U.S. federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, the New Jersey State Board of Public Utilities, and the New Jersey Office of Information Technology. She has collaborated on qualitative projects studying information access for the Democracy Fund, the Cleveland Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Internews.

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Jessica is a former Executive Secretary and Council Member for the New York State Communication Association. She also previously served as an Interdisciplinary Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics and as a grant assistant in the Media and Democracy Program at the Social Science Research Council.
 

Prior to graduate study, Jessica worked in professional media as a Media Strategist at OMD- New York on the PepsiCo and Hershey's accounts. 

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