Danielle K. Brown
1855 Community & Urban Journalism Professorship, Associate Professor
Department
- Journalism
Bio
Danielle Brown, Ph.D. is the 1855 Community and Urban Journalism Professor and an associate professor in the School of Journalism. She is also the founding director of the LIFT Project -- an engaged research effort aimed at addressing misinformation and disinformation, by enriching existing information pipelines of vulnerable communities, most notably through the identification and support of trusted messengers. You can learn more about the various research avenues and programs of this project at https://liftproj.com.
Dr. Brown's interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship utilizes the cross-sections of journalism, political science, and sociology. She specializes in analyses of media representations and narrative change, social movements and activism, and identity and political psychology. Dr. Brown has published dozens of articles in top-tier journals, and her work also appears in popular media outlets like the Washington Post, Nieman Lab, Columbia Journalism Review and The Conversation. Much of her research and work has been supported with the more than $1.5 million in external funding she has secured from foundations and non-profit organizations like the Lumina Foundation, Knight Foundation, Global Impact, Robert Wood Johnson, and Color of Change. She has received multiple awards and recognitions for her research and service record as an early-career scholar and her pioneering public engagement work. She previously served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota and Indiana University. Prior to joining the academy, she was a photojournalist, writer, and later a non-profit public relations professional. Her full curriculum vitae is available here.
Dr. Brown has many community engaged projects where students -- at the undergraduate and graduate level -- have opportunities to contribute to engaged research and data-driven storytelling. She primarily teaches courses that include various elements of visual journalism.
Dr. Brown also serves on the board of the Institute of Journalism and Natural Resources. In her role, she's collaborated with IJNR to launch a new program to support sustained community for environmental journalists from underrepresented backgrounds.
Roles
Founding Director of the LIFT Project
1855 Professor of Community and Urban Journalism
Incoming School of Journalism Graduate Program Director
Faculty Advisor, March for Our Lives MSU Chapter
Innovation Advisor, Pop Up Docs
Research and Teaching
narrative change; media ethics; race, identity and media; visual journalism; political communication; technology and policy
