Stacy Smith

Stacy L. Smith (Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, 1999) joined the USC Annenberg Faculty in the fall of 2003. Her research focuses on children’s responses to mass media portrayals (television, film, video games) of violence, gender and hypersexuality. Dr. Smith has written over 45 journal articles and book chapters on content patterns and effects of the media on youth. Further, she has received multiple "top paper" awards for her research from the Instructional Developmental Division of the International Communication Association. In terms of the popular press, Dr. Smith’s research has been written about online line or in print at The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Variety, Salon.com, The Boston Globe, and USA Today. Most recently, she has been working with a team of graduate and undergraduate students to assess portrayals of males and females in children’s media. Some of this work has been funded by See Jane, a program started by Academy Award winner Geena Davis.

In addition to research, Dr. Smith is passionate about teaching about media theory and effects. Dr. Smith has been recognized for her outstanding teaching at USC, receiving multiple awards from different constituencies on campus. She has received the Parents’ Council Teacher and Mentor Award, Outstanding Professor Award from the Annenberg Students Communication Association three times, the Greek Professor of the Semester Award, the Golden Apple Award from Kappa Alpha Theta twice, the Professor of the Year Award from Gamma Alpha Sigma, and was recognized as an Honorary Member of Lambda Pi Eta. More recently, she was tapped by Mortar Board at USC and was nominated by the Trojan League of Southern California for the 2008 Outstanding Service Award.