UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An expert on media effects and health communication is set to discuss “Why Watching TV is Good for You and Other Reflections on the Emotional Benefits of Media Consumption” during a free public lecture on campus.
Robin Nabi, a professor of communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), will present the spring 2018 Robert M. Pockrass Memorial Lecture at 5:30 p.m. April 9 in Foster Auditorium of Paterno Library. The Pockrass Lecture is co-sponsored by the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications and University Libraries.
While potential negative effects of media use — whether it be violent behavior, poor food choice or heightened consumerism — have historically been highlighted, potential benefits of media consumption have largely been overlooked. Nabi will address how to harness media consumption to enhance psychological and physical health and emotional well-being.
Nabi joined UCSB in 2004 after six years at the University of Arizona and her research interests focus on the influence discrete emotions have on media message processing and decision making. With more than 70 articles and book chapters published, Nabi also co-edited the SAGE Handbook of Media Processes and Effects, while also serving as the managing editor of the journal Media Psychology, the associate editor of the Journal of Communication, and on the editorial board of numerous top communication journals.
A recipient of the 2014 McQuail Award for the best article advancing communication theory published in a peer-reviewed journal, Nabi has chaired the Mass Communication Division of the International Communication Association as well as the Communication and Social Cognition Division of the National Communication Association. She was also recently elected as a fellow of the International Communication Association.
Nabi holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, as well as a master’s degree and doctorate from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Pockrass Lecture was named after the late Professor Robert M. Pockrass, a member of Penn State's journalism faculty from 1948 to 1977. Pockrass specialized in public opinion and popular culture, served as the graduate officer, and taught radio news writing.