Melissa Zimdars

Melissa Zimdars serves as Associate Professor in the School of Arts & Sciences at Merrimack College and held a Research Affiliate position (2021-2022) at UNC Chapel Hill's Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life. Her critical media studies scholarship examines intersections of media texts, industries, policies, and culture with specialization in digital misinformation and television representation.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Communication Studies (Media Studies), University of Iowa
• M.A. in Media Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• B.A. in Journalism, Media Studies, and Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Zimdars' research operates at the nexus of critical cultural studies and media industries analysis. She pioneered influential work on 'fake news' through her MIT Press book Fake News: Understanding Media and Misinformation in the Digital Age (2020), while her Rutgers University Press monograph Watching Our Weights (2019) critically examines television's role in the 'obesity epidemic.' Her scholarship consistently interrogates power structures within media ecosystems and their cultural consequences.

Analysis of her 2020-2025 publications reveals two dominant trajectories: 1) rigorous examination of misinformation's impact on democratic processes and social media dynamics, particularly regarding health misinformation and alternative epistemologies; 2) continued critical analysis of body representation in television through frameworks of neoliberalism and medicalization. This interdisciplinary approach bridges communication studies, political science, and public health.

Her scholarly recognition includes:

• Zampell Family Faculty Fellow (2021-2022)
• Marion Jasper Whiting Foundation Fellowship (2017)
• University of Iowa fellowships (2014-2015)
• National Communication Association top student paper award (2014)
• Global Fusion Conference top student paper award (2012)