Radhika Parameswaran

Radhika Parameswaran serves as the Herman B Wells Endowed Professor (Class of 1950) in The Media School at Indiana University, Bloomington, following prior leadership roles as associate dean (2021-2024) and Journalism department chair (2015-2019). Her work bridges feminist cultural studies, postcolonial media analysis, and South Asian media representations within global contexts.

Educational background:

• M.A. from Texas Christian University
• Ph.D. from the University of Iowa

Her research interrogates media portrayals of India's socioeconomic transformation, focusing on beauty standards, femininity, and women's progress amid globalization. Current projects examine the Indian diaspora in American journalism, extending her foundational work on young Indian women's engagement with British romance novels. Methodologically grounded in qualitative feminist frameworks, her scholarship connects historical trajectories from her grandmother's generation to contemporary bicultural identities.

Parameswaran's accolades reflect exceptional scholarly and pedagogical impact, including top feminist research recognition and multiple teaching honors.

• International Communication Association’s Teresa Award for outstanding feminist scholarship
• Journalism department’s Gretchen Kemp Award for outstanding teaching (awarded twice)
• 2020 top faculty paper award from National Communication Association’s Feminist and Gender Studies division
• 2021 campus-wide Trustees Teaching Award
• University of Iowa School of Journalism Hall of Fame induction (2021)

As an educator, she teaches media globalization, gender studies, and research methods while mentoring students through Jackie Beyers-inspired pedagogy. Her service includes editing Communication, Culture and Critique (2014-2016), editorial board memberships across eight major journals, and media commentary for CNN, Al Jazeera, and The Juggernaut. She has delivered invited lectures at over twenty institutions including University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and Osmania University.