Christopher Westgate

Professor

JWU Faculty Since 2011

Contact Info

Email: christopher.westgate@jwu.edu
Phone: 401-598-2764
Campus: Providence

My research program includes communication history, digital culture, Latinx media, social identities, and sound studies. My scholarship brings qualitative research methods to bear on the interpretation of everyday acts and artifacts. My years of work as a communication scholar and radio professional have convinced me that no questions are more interesting than who exercises power, by what means, and to what ends; the answers to these questions have important implications for media organizations and their workers.

Education

PhD, Texas A & M University
MA, Columbia University
BS, Cornell University

“My years of work as a communication scholar and radio professional have convinced me that no questions are more interesting than who exercises power, by what means, and to what ends”

Teaching Interests

My teaching interests are diverse. I enjoy teaching seminars on media representations as well as classes that explore the intersection of media, culture, and society. Many of my courses involve opportunities to engage with local media organizations and institutions. I have been teaching for fifteen years.

Scholarly Interests

My research program addresses the ways in which social identities--racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual--find expression in media industries, with an emphasis on Latinx popular music.

Courses

MCST2050: Media Audiences
MCST3100: Radio, Records, and Popular Music
MCST4010: Global Media
MCST4190: Media Research Methods
MCST4200: Senior Seminar in Media and Communication Studies

2024, The First Spanish-Language Album to Reach Number One: El Ultimo Tour del Mundo, Bad Bunny, and the Billboard 200. International Journal of Communication, 18, 1724-1744
2021 Silent Pivoting: Listening for the Inaudible in the Remote University. Forthcoming in Sound Studies.
2019 Popular Music Fans and the Value of Concert Tickets. Popular Music & Society, 43(1), 57-77. DOI: 10.1080/03007766.2019.1601152
2016 Community and Communication (with E.W. Rothenbuhler). In K.B. Jensen (ed.), International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
2014 One Language, One Nation, and One Vision: NBC Latino, Fusion, and Fox News Latino. In A. Dávila and Y. Rivero (eds.), Contemporary Latina/o Media: Production, Circulation, Politics. New York: NYU Press, 82-102.
2014 Mexican Mobile Music: Una Convergencia con Sabor (with P. Burkart). In S. Sumanth and J. Stanyek (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Mobile Music Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 415-433.
2013 Notes on the Wire: Ballads, Biases, and Borders of Performance Journalism. Media, Culture & Society 35(8), November. 996-1010. DOI: 10.1177/0163443713501934

Dissertations And Theses Advised

Honors Thesis Advisor/Committee Chair: Yuvia Morales, Mackenzie Carroll, Anais Nolasco, Alyssa Termini, Johnson & Wales (2014-present)

Honors And Awards

2020-2021 Faculty Research Fellowship, College of Arts & Sciences, Johnson & Wales
2016 Faculty Exchange Recipient, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Hoofddorp, Netherlands, Johnson & Wales
2015-2016 Faculty Research Fellowship, College of Arts & Sciences, Johnson & Wales
2013-2014 Alan Shawn Feinstein Faculty Fellowship in Experiential Education, Johnson & Wales
2013-2014 Alan Shawn Feinstein Technology & Design Center, Digital Media Project Grant, Johnson & Wales
2011-2013 Travel to Conference Awards, Johnson & Wales University