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Louise Woodstock

Associate Professor

Dr. Louise Woodstock came to Ursinus in 2003. 
 
The driving question that animates her research is “how do people talk about ‘communication’?” In mediated culture, most often this question is answered in reductive ways: communication is inherently healing, more communication is better, and all we really need to do to solve our problems is to communicate. She has tracked this issue in widely various venues, including self-help books, women’s magazines, news, reality television, and most recently among media resisters, people who avoid media often based on their critique that rather than extend and strengthen human connection, communication technologies actually make interpersonal communication more tenuous. Her work has appeared in leading communication journals including: the International Journal of Communication, Journalism, and The Communication Review. 

Department

Media and Communication Studies

Degrees

  • B.A., Oberlin College
  • M.A., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Teaching

  • MCS205: Media and Society
  • MCS292W: Communication Theory and Research
  • MCS 330: History and Theory of Freedom of Expression
  • MCS 355: Technology and Culture
  • MCS 366: Digital Democracy
  • MCS 460W: Seminar in Communication Criticism

Research Interests

  • journalism studies
  • new communication technologies
  • critical and cultural studies
  • therapeutic discourse
  • media resistance

Recent Work

“It’s kind of like an assault, you know”: media resisters’ meta-decoding practices of media culture” in Stuart Hall Lives: Cultural Studies in an Age of Digital Media. Eds. Peter Decherney and Katherine Sender. 2018. New York: Routledge, pp47-56.

“Media Resistance: Opportunities for Practice Theory and New Media Research.” International Journal of Communication 8 (2014), 1983–2001. 

“The news-democracy narrative and the unexpected benefits of limited news consumption: the case of news resisters.” Journalism: Theory, Practice, and Criticism. first published on October 28, 2013 as doi:10.1177/1464884913504260

“Tattoo Therapy: Storying the Self in Neoliberal Times.” The Journal of Popular Culture. Early View Online, March 2011.

Related News

Louise Woodstock in the garden
Communications Class Plants Native Garden on Campus

Louise Woodstock, a professor, gardener, and liberal arts devotee, has a mission to teach “the whole student.” Her field is Media and Communications; her focus is embodied learning.

Communications Class Plants Native Garden on Campus

Louise Woodstock, a professor, gardener, and liberal arts devotee, has a mission to teach “the whole student.” Her field is Media and Communications; her focus is embodied learning.

For her Climate and Communications class this spring, that meant gathering native species from southeastern Pennsylvania and planting the insect and bird supporting verdure into an existing mulch bed outside of the Myrin Library. They students worked side by side with the faciltiies department, who helped install the new garden.

“I really wanted to respond to what I think students need,” said Woodstock. “Belonging and making a difference.”

Before she held a doctorate in communications, Woodstock was a kid who loved exploring in the woods outside her hometown of Silver Springs, Maryland. “There was a low mountain ridge that still had original native plants—mountain laurels, native azaleas, oak trees…” Now, she teaches the value of planting native species to support local ecosystems and foster wild environments for tomorrow’s generation of backyard explorers.

cover cropped
The (Mis)information Age
Digital technology and social media are powerful tools that influence and shape human behavior and opinion. We’ve seen it first-hand when it comes to politics and elections, social justice issues and activism, and even a global pandemic. Three Ursinus experts in media and technology discuss and debate how digital media has influenced—and even helped or harmed—our society. (cover illustration by: Mikala Campbell)
Headshot of Louise Woodstock
Headshot of Louise Woodstock

Contact Info

Ritter Center 144
610-409-3021
lwoodstock@ursinus.edu