معرفی
Lesa Hatley Major serves as an Associate Professor in The Media School at Indiana University, with significant administrative experience including Associate Dean for the Media School (2013–2015) and Interim Dean for the IU School of Journalism (2013–2014). Her leadership encompassed undergraduate curriculum development, $21 million academic space renovation planning, budget management, fundraising, and staff oversight.
Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Mass Communication and Public Affairs from Louisiana State University, complemented by eight years as a health reporter and news anchor prior to academia.
Dr. Major's research centers on health communication and framing analysis, examining how news narratives shape public policy support—particularly regarding HIV/AIDS interventions for African American communities, mental health reporting, and obesity coverage. Her work bridges public policy discourse with media effects, emphasizing ethical considerations in health messaging and the intersection of race/gender in election coverage.
Analysis of her 15-year publication record reveals consistent focus on media framing's impact on health policy perceptions, with recent work expanding into homelessness discourse. Her scholarship demonstrates methodological diversity across content analysis, surveys, and framing experiments.
Dr. Major teaches mass communication theory, quantitative research methods, science reporting, and broadcast journalism. She secured research funding for studies on homelessness perceptions and housing insecurity, while her administrative legacy includes modernizing academic infrastructure and curricula.
