Susannah Stern

Susannah Stern, is the founding director of the Youth and Media Insights Lab and a Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of San Diego. 

Stern’s research examines how both fictional and news media represent adolescents, as well as how young people interact with, make sense of and are affected by media. Her work aims to emphasize youth agency, and she is centrally concerned with the complex and dynamic relationships young people share with digital technologies. Her work draws attention to the cultural consumption, self-expression, and identity work that accompany young people’s media and digital participation.

Stern's work has appeared in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including The Journal of Children and Media, the Journal of Advertising, and Journal of Health Communication, as well as numerous edited collections.  Stern has presented her research and offered lectures and workshops regarding children, adolescents and media at an array of professional, non-profit, university, and pre-K-12 meetings and conferences.