Jennifer A. Petersen

Jennifer A. Petersen is an Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She serves as Director of the Graduate Certificate in Science and Technology Studies and is affiliated with the Center for Law, History, and Culture. Her research focuses on the intersection of media technologies, law, and public culture, with specialties in gender/sexuality studies, technology policy, and historical analysis of communication.

Dr. Petersen holds a former fellowship from the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University (2016-2017) and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at University of Virginia (2015-2017). Her work bridges legal history with media technology critiques, notably examining how technological shifts from silent film to AI reshape legal interpretations of free speech and personhood.

• Education: Prior academic roles include affiliation with University of Virginia’s Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
• Research Themes: AI ethics, media regulation, historical conceptions of emotion/reason
• Key Publications: How Machines Came to Speak (2022), Murder, the Media, and Public Feelings (2011)

Her current projects explore AI’s implications for legal personhood and the historical evolution of agency concepts in artificial intelligence. Petersen teaches COMM 311: Communication and Publics, integrating her expertise in media technology and public discourse.