Dr. Benjamin Medeiros
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies
Professor Benjamin Medeiros’ research combines some conceptual and methodological tenets of media and cultural studies with contemporary topics in communications law and political communication. In the past few years, he has written primarily about the tension between reputation and freedom of expression on internet platforms. This work appears in First Amendment Studies, Social Media + Society and the Journal of Media Ethics. Some other topically-related writing on the regulation of internet platforms and content moderation appears in Communication Law Review and the International Journal of Communication.
Since finishing grad school, he has also become more interested in the politicization of “free speech” as a concept. Some recent writing (in American Quarterly and First Amendment Studies, as well as on the website Times Higher Education) has explored current issues regarding free speech and politics in higher education. This writing is part of the groundwork for a larger project that situates current legal and political debates about regulating “big tech” within the history of right-wing perspectives on media regulation and free speech in America.
Much of this published writing is available in preprint form on my Academia page.
His central teaching goal is to help students cultivate three things: broadly applicable analytical instincts that will help them adapt in an economy that is undergoing seismic changes; an awareness of the institutional and social forces that shape the world around them; and a richer understanding of their own beliefs. Dr. Medeiros works hard to create a safe and inclusive yet challenging space for discussion in my courses, and he thinks that some of the best discussions happen when students make connections between the course material and the different life experiences that they bring to Plattsburgh. Finally, he is particularly enthusiastic about helping students develop their own independent study and research projects, and has advised students in semester-long research projects in the past.
Dr. Medeiros has served on the editorial board of the National Communication Association journal First Amendment Studies since 2018. He is also an active participant in the Freedom of Expression Division of NCA and the Freedom of Speech Division of SSCA.
Dr. Medeiros received a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of California, San Diego in 2016, after attending undergrad at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania.
- Education
- Ph.D. in Communication, University of California, San Diego
- M.A., New York University
- B.A., Franklin & Marshall College
- Teaching Areas
- Research Areas
- Professional Affiliations & Memberships