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Maria Celeste Wagner, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor - Department of Journalism

Office: 3115 Weimer Email:

Bio

Celeste Wagner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism at University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications and is also an Affiliate Faculty at the Center for Latin American Studies. She received a Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 2022. Previously, she obtained a Licenciatura (BA) in Communication from Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina in 2013, her home country, and an MA in Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018.

Dr. Wagner studies processes of media reception and influence around political and social issues, particularly intersecting gender inequalities in the Americas. Methodologically, her research draws from qualitative interviewing methods, surveys, experiments and comparative approaches. Fieldwork for her research has been conducted in Argentina and the United States.

Some of her recent publications analyze the reception of Turkish television dramas in Argentina (Journal of Communication); the emotional experiences, interpretations, and practices of consuming news and perceived misinformation during times of political polarization in the U.S. (Journalism, Digital Journalism); the role of the perceived gender of journalists on the promotion of ideas around the severity of sexual harassment (Cuadernos.info); and the experiences of watching television entertainment in Argentina and the United States (International Journal of Communication).

She is currently working on a series of projects. With E. Mitchelstein, P. J. Boczkowski, and F. Suenzo, they are working on a book manuscript based on interviews, surveys and experiments during the Argentine 2019 elections, titled The Patina of Distrust: Misinformation in a Context of Generalized Skepticism, under contract with The MIT Press; the role of partisanship and gender in people’s assessment of sexual harassment scandals involving politicians in the U.S. (with Jin Woo Kim), among others.

Additionally, she is working on different projects based on her dissertation research, for which she won a Best Dissertation Award at the Global Communication and Social Change Division at the International Communication Association (2023). For example, a study on the role of a survivor/victim’s racialized ethnicity and class backgrounds on news audiences’ responses in Argentina and the U.S.; Argentinian and U.S. feminist activists’ interpretations and interventions in communication for gender equality, among others.

Dr. Wagner currently teaches an undergraduate class titled “Media, Cultures and Identity” and a graduate level course on Academic Writing. Previously, in both Argentina and the United States, she taught introduction to communication, history of the media, social scientific methods, and critical approaches to popular culture. In 2015, she received a Teaching Award at Universidad de San Andrés, given to the best Teaching Assistant at the university.

Among other appointments, she is a faculty affiliate at the Center for Latinx Digital Media at Northwestern University; a member of the organizing committee of the “Media & Communication in Global Latinidades” Pre-Conference at ICA; a research affiliate at the Center for Media and Society in Argentina, and a member of Digital Journalism’s Editorial Board.

Areas of Expertise

Gender, International and Intercultural Communication, Multicultural/Race Communication and Issues, Political Communication, Social Advocacy and Social Change

Education

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication
Master’s in Communication, University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School of Communication
Bachelor’s in Communication, Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina.

News

Publications

Presentations

Mitchelstein, E., & Wagner, C. (2023). "How Audiences Assess Misinformation: A Survey Experiment During the 2019 Campaign in Argentina". Oral Presentation at International Political Science Association, Buenos Aires, AK, Argentina.

Wagner, C. (2023). "A Feminist Pedagogy of Patience: Communication Against Gender-Based Violence in the Argentina of the Ni Una Menos and the United States of #MeToo". Oral Presentation at International Communication Association 73rd Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.

Suenzo, F., & Wagner, C. (2023). "The Reception of Fact-Checking: Opening the Black Box of Information Consumption". Oral Presentation at 73rd edition of the International Communication Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.

Wagner, C. (2023). "The Language of Race and Class in Argentina and the United States". Oral Presentation at Media and Communication in Global Latinidades Pre-Conference.

Wagner, C. (2022). "Feminism, Communication and Social Change in the Americas: A Comparative Analysis of the Argentina of Ni Una Menos and the United States of #MeToo". Oral Presentation at Center for Latinx Digital Media, Remote.

Wagner, C. (2022). "Honoring PLACE: A Methodological Lens for the Conduction of Ethical and Historically Grounded Research on Racialized Ethnicity in the Americas". Paper/Poster at National Communication Association annual meeting, New Orleans, LA.

Wagner, C. (2022). "The Construction of Feminist Media Practices in Argentina and the United States: How Feminist Actors Intervene and Create Media for Gender Justice". Paper/Poster at Global Fusion, Philadelphia, PA.

, ., & Wagner, C. (2022). "How Partisanship and Gender Shape the Public's Reactions to the #MeToo Movement”. Paper/Poster at American Political Science Association annual meeting, Quebec, Canada.

Wagner, C. (2022). "How Do You Build Communication for Social Change? A Comparative Analysis of Feminist Practices in Argentina and the U.S.". Paper/Poster at Contemporary Developments on Media, Culture and Society: Argentina and Latin America, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Research

Specialization

global communication and comparative research; audience studies; gender, race and class; political communication; media effects; qualitative methods; quantitative methods

Professional Interests

I study processes of media reception and influence around political and social issues, particularly intersecting gender inequalities in the Americas and other issues in political communication. Methodologically, I mainly draw from qualitative interviewing methods, surveys, experiments and comparative approaches. Fieldwork for my research has been conducted in Argentina and the United States.

Courses

Syllabi from the current and three previous semesters: