Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D.
Mia Moody-Ramirez, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair of the Baylor University Department of Journalism, Public Relations and New Media. She joined Baylor in 2001 and has maintained an active research portfolio in addition to her teaching and leadership roles.
Her research emphasizes media framing of people of color, women and political candidates, the pros and cons of social media in political campaigns and she has examined how historical stereotypes are found in social media platforms.
The author or co-author of four books, Dr. Moody-Ramirez has also been widely published in a variety of academic and industry journals and. She was honored with the Outstanding Woman in Journalism award by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and received the organization’s Lionel Barrow Jr. Award for Distinguished Achievement in Diversity Research and Education. She is also a 2019 Fellow in the AEJMC Institute for Diverse Leadership.
Social Media
Dr. Moody-Ramirez has researched topics such as missing women, the independent Black woman, Obama hate groups, misogyny in rap music, social media curriculum and representations of gender and race in mass media.
Image Repair Theory
Dr. Moody-Ramirez is an image-repair specialist. She has researched the implications of new media on traditional image-repair tactics .
Media Stereotypes
Dr. Moody-Ramirez is available to speak on politics, framing, social media and new media representations of women and people of color.
Research Interests
Race, Class & Culture
Moody-Ramirez's recent research focus on the effects of the James Byrd Jr. dragging death on Jasper, Facebook hate groups, stereotypes of President Barack and Michelle Obama, male and female rappers' differing views on the "independent woman," and coverage of missing women. Her articles have been published in numerous national and international publications, such as the American Communication Journal, Public Relations Review and AEJMC Journal of Magazine & New Media Research.
Pop Culture
Popular culture is an important source of ideas that can shape people’s perceptions of themselves and other people. To remain relevant, it is necessary for scholars to test theories in different circumstances. Furthermore, to take advantage of shifts in media, media scholars must teach students how to read and critically dissect newspapers, TV, radio, the Internet, and other new media. In the process, they may become engaged democratic citizens.
New Media
Moody-Ramirez's research interests are relevant to the vital issues of the day concerning the evolution of journalism and its contributions to a democratic society. The Internet makes information more easily accessible to a great number of people and gathers information from a wider array of sources than any instrument of information and communication in history. Consequently, media dynamics have changed considerably.