Asha S. Winfield

Dr. Asha Winfield is an Assistant Professor and Doris Darden II Professor at Louisiana State University's Manship School of Mass Communication. She directs The Storytellers Lab (founded 2022), where she leads documentary filmmaking and arts-based qualitative research initiatives with students. Her office is located in 215 Hodges Hall, and she can be contacted via aswinfield@lsu.edu.

Her interdisciplinary research program examines Black cultural narratives through multiple theoretical lenses, with primary focuses on:

• Media representation of Black communities in film, television, and popular culture
• Intergenerational health communication and disparities in Black populations
• Innovative qualitative methodologies including autoethnography and duoethnography
• Cultural memory and audience reception of media texts
• Intersectional analyses of race, gender, and health in media discourses

Her scholarly publications demonstrate consistent focus on Black representation in media, health communication disparities, and qualitative methodological innovation. Recent works (2022-2025) increasingly explore pandemic impacts on marginalized communities, intergenerational trauma, and decolonizing research approaches through collaborative projects.

Awards recognizing her research excellence include:

• NCA Critical and Cultural Studies New Investigator Award (2024)
• AEJMC Entertainment Studies Top Paper Award (2023)
• LSU Rising Faculty Research Award (2023)
• NCA Gerald R. Miller Outstanding Dissertation (2022)
• Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award (2022)

Through The Storytellers Lab, Dr. Winfield mentors students in documentary production and community-engaged research. Her externally funded projects include the Powe Award ($10,000) examining health disparities and the LSU Alumni Association grant ($5,000) supporting creative scholarship.