Meghan Sanders

Meghan Sanders is the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies and Katheryn Pate Callahan Professor at LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication. She directs the Media Effects Lab and specializes in media psychology, particularly how entertainment affects psychological well-being, morality, and narrative engagement. She holds a B.A. from Dillard University and M.A./Ph.D. from Penn State.

Her research explores enjoyment of entertainment, moral disengagement in media consumption, and fan communities. She has led initiatives like the Scripps Howard Academic Leadership Academy and teaches mass communication theory and research methods.

Research Impact: Publications in Journal of Communication and Communication Theory examine self-transcendent media, parasocial relationships, and identity formation through fandom.

Leadership: Former Associate Dean for Research (2012-2016); conducts workshops on academic leadership for AEJMC and Kopenhaver Center.