Faculty and Staff Profile

Erin Ash

Educational Background

Ph.D. Mass Communications
Pennsylvania State University 2013

M.A. Media Studies
Pennsylvania State University 2010

B.A. Communication
College of Charleston 2008

Courses Taught

COMM 3080: Public Communication and Popular Culture
COMM 3160: Media and Social Identities
COMM 3690: Political Communication
COMM 8200: Foundations in Communication
COMM 8100: Quantitative Research Methods
COMM 8740: Media Effects

Profile

Dr. Erin Ash is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication. Her research interests are in media psychology, particularly media portrayals of race and gender and audience interpretations of those messages. Dr. Ash teaches media theory and research methods courses in the department.

Research Interests

Dr. Ash's research focuses primarily on representations of social groups in media and their effects, with an emphasis on the cognitive and affective processes that explain media-based stereotyping, beliefs about inequality, and support for policies aimed at alleviating these issues. Her work has examined the relationship between media portrayals and these outcomes across a variety of contexts, including news, sport, video games, and film/entertainment.

Research Publications

Cranmer, G. A., Ash, E., Fontana, J. L., & Mikkilineni, S. D. (2020). Communication for the win: Task benefits of coach confirmation in collegiate athletics. Communication Quarterly. doi: 10.1080/01463373.2020.1850491

Khoo, G. S., & Ash, E. (2020). Moved to justice: The effects of socially-conscious films on social justice concerns. Mass Communication & Society. doi: 10.1080/15205436.2020.1779306

Ash, E., & Cranmer, G. A. (2019). Transcontextual effects of racialized brawn and brain framing: Students' off the field perceptions of student-athletes. Communication & Sport. doi: 10.1177/2167479519830621

Ash, E., Xu, Y., Jenkins, A., & Kumanyika, C. (2019). News organization framing of police use of force on social media. Electronic News, 13(2), 93-107. doi: 10.1177/1931243119850239

Ash, E. (2017). Emotional responses to savior films: Concealing privilege or appealing to our better selves? Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind, 11(2), 22-48. doi: 10:3167/proj.2017.110203

Ash, E., Sanderson, J., Kumanyika, C., & Gramlich, K. (2017). Investigating cultural conversations in sport on athletic ability, gender, race, and sexual assault. Journal of Sports Media, 12(1), 65-87. doi: 10.1353/jsm.2017.0003

Ash, E. (2015). Racial discourse in The Blind Side: Economics and ideology behind the White savior format. Studies in Popular Culture, 38(1), 85-103.

Ash, E. (2015). Priming or Proteus effect?: Examining the effects of avatar race on in-game behavior and post-play aggressive cognition and affect in video games. Games and Culture. doi: 10.1177/1555412014568870

Oliver, M. B., Kim, K., Hoewe, J., Chung, M., Ash, E., Woolley, J. K., & Shade, D. (2015). Media-induced elevation as a means of enhancing feelings of intergroup connectedness. Journal of Social Issues, 71(1), 106-122. doi: 10.1111/josi.12099

Oliver, M. B., Ash, E., Woolley, J., Shade, D., & Kim, K. (2014). Entertainment we watch and entertainment we value: Patterns of motion picture consumption and acclaim over three decades. Mass Communication & Society, 17(6), 853-873. doi: 10.1080/15205436.2013.872277

Hardin, M., Whiteside, E., & Ash, E. (2014). Ambivalence on the front lines? Attitudes toward Title IX and women’s sports among Division I sports information directors. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 49(1), 42-64. doi: 10.1177/1012690212450646

Ash, E., & Schmierbach, M. (2013). The effects of gain and loss frames on perceptions of inequality. Howard Journal of Communications, 24(1), 38-56. doi: 10.1080/10646175.2013.748408

Xu, Q., Schmierbach, M., Bellur, S., Ash, E., Oeldorf-Hirsch, A., & Kegerise, A. (2012). The effects of “friend” characteristics on evaluations of an activist group in a social networking context. Mass Communication and Society, 15(3), 432-453. doi: 10.1080/15205436.2011.583862.

Whiteside, E., Hardin, M., & Ash, E. (2011). Good for society or good for business? Division I sports information directors’ toward the commercialization of sports. International Journal of Sport Communication, 4(4), 473-491. doi: 10.1123/ijsc.4.4.473

Hardin, M., & Ash, E. (2011). Journalists provide social context missing from sports blogs. Newspaper Research Journal, 32(2), 20-35. doi: 10.1177/073953291103200203

Honors and Awards

Associate Dean’s Recognition of Scholarship in Journal Publications, CBSHS, Clemson University (Fall 2019)
Outstanding Professor of the Year, Department of Communication, Clemson University (April 2016)
Doctoral Award for Excellence in Communications, College of Communications, Penn State University (September 2012)
Top Faculty Paper, Sports Interest Group, AEJMC, St. Louis, MO (August 2011)
Top Student Paper Award, Newspaper Division, AEJMC, Boston, MA (August 2009)
Top Student Paper Award, Minorities and Communication Division, AEJMC, Boston, MA (August 2009)