Professor, Communication and Media.
My research interests revolve around media, culture and power. Many of my earlier publications analyze media representations of marginalized groups, particularly concerning intersections of race/ethnicity, gender and class. More recently, my research program has emphasized a qualitative approach to understanding new-media engagement patterns. Using focus-group, interview and survey methods, I have explored media marathoning practices, TV spoiler attitudes and podcast listening gratifications. My 2015 book, “Media Marathoning: Immersions in Morality,” argues that the media marathoning process (my alternative label for “binge-watching”) invites us to place ourselves into story worlds and negotiate the nuances of morality. Recent publications have analyzed TV critics’ practices surrounding spoilers and viewers’ attitudes toward spoilers (co-authored with Noelle McElrath-Hart). My works in progress include analysis of interviewees’ media marathoning experiences while ill, as well as qualitative and quantitative studies about podcast listeners’ gratifications (conducted with colleagues Jacob Turner and Andrew Tollison, with help from students Sarah Seero and Kenney Tran).
Perks, L. G. (accepted, 2018). “Media marathoning and health coping.” Communication Studies. doi: 10.1080/10510974.2018.1519837.
Perks, L. G. & Turner, J. S. (accepted, 2018). “Podcasts and productivity: A qualitative Uses and Gratifications study.” Mass Communication and Society.
Mandeville, D., Perks, L. G., Benes, S. S. & Poloskey, L. (accepted, 2017). “The Mindset and Intellectual Development Scale (MINDS): Metacognitive assessment for undergraduate students.” International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
Perks, L. G. and McElrath-Hart, N. (2017). “Television Spoilers Recast as Narrative Teasers.” Qualitative Research Reports in Communication.
Perks, L. G. and McElrath-Hart, N. (2016). “The Television Spoiler Nuisance Rationale.” International Journal of Communication, 10, 5580-5597.
Perks, L. G. and McElrath-Hart, N. (2016). “Spoiler Definitions and Behaviors in the Post-Network Era.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.
Perks, L. G. (2015). Media Marathoning: Immersions in Morality.” Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Perks, L. G. (2015). “Cultivating Community Through Academic Blogging.” Journal of Contemporary Rhetoric (special issue on rhetorical autoethnography) 5(1/2), 37-41.
Perks, L. G. and Johnson, K. A. (November 2014). “Electile Dysfunction: The Burlesque Binds of the Sarah Palin MILF Frame.” Feminist Media Studies, 14(5), 775-790.
Perks, L. G. and Gatchet, A. D. (2013). Equipment for Living in an Ordered Home: Disciplinary Homologies in ‘Supernanny’ and ‘Dog Whisperer.’” The Journal of Popular Culture, 46(4), 811-830.
Perks, L. G. (2012). “Sox and Stripes: Baseball’s Ironic American Dreams.” Communication Quarterly, 60(4), 445-464. Lead article.
Perks, L. G. (2012). “Three Satiric Television Decoding Positions.” Communication Studies, 63(3), 290-308.
Perks, L. G. (2012). “The Ancient Roots of Humor Theory.” HUMOR: The International Journal of Humor Research, 25(2), 119-132. Lead article.
Perks, L. G. (2010). “Polysemic Scaffolding: Explicating Discursive Clashes in ‘Chappelle’s Show.” Communication, Culture and Critique, 3(2), 270-289.
The former captain for the New England Patriots and three-time Super Bowl champion was the keynote speaker for the College’s Unity in Diversity Days.
