Hi! I’m Jamie Cohen! I am a digital culture expert, writer, speaker, educator, and digital media producer.
I hold a PhD in Cultural and Media Studies specializing in memes and digital culture and I am an assistant professor at CUNY Queens College where I teach Digital Activism, Social Media, Aesthetics and Advertising Inequalities. In addition, I am a faculty fellow of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change and the Head of Education of Digital Void, an internet literacies collective. My book, Critical Internet Literacies: Reconsidering Creativity, Content, and Safety Online comes out in January 2025.
An introductory critical internet studies text that builds upon media literacy and digital culture theory to offer a thorough examination of the intersection of online technology and culture.
We are now collectively at a hinge point in the evolution of the web where online influencers can sway national discourse, geopolitical events are remixed through memes, and online harms are misunderstood. This book argues that people are generally aware that online media has repercussions in off-platform spaces, but sometimes lack the language to properly critique online trends, memes, and internet-born media. How are citizens, activists, and marginalized groups able to use these tools effectively and safely in these times? Jamie Cohen explores aspects of internet culture in an approachable manner, building upon critical media literacy and applying a critical technocultural analysis as a methodology to reimagine how media literacy can operate in an online media environment. The book explores key topics such as accessibility, the creator economy, content moderation, tech bias, platform capitalism, internet culture, and safety. | Available for Pre-Order Dec 30. Released on 20 January 2025. More here.
You can see me describe my work in the documentary Anything for Fame (2022, dir. Tyler Funk) now streaming on Paramount+
Curiosity. Exploration. Action
Merging my previous experiences of television production, service industry, and education, I deploy most of my scholarly work pedagogically. I provide background, context, color and narrative to the wildly changing media environments that sit on either side of the digital interface.
Expert in Memes, Digital Culture, and Digital Media; Academic Source
International Speaker: Google, the WHO, the FBI, Trust & Safety Collective, PERIL at American University, Canadian Consulate of NY, Telus International, Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change, Emerson College, Nevada State College
Offered insights to: New York Times, RTL Nieuws, Digital Fairy, Society, Asahi Shimbun, China Daily Hong Kong, The Verge, CNN, Reddit, Messenger, Washington Post, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC News Radio, Scripps Media, Junior Scholastic, Time, WGN NewsNation, PictureStart, GQ, USA Today, ABC SF, Fox News, Inside Edition, Summer Friday, Forbes, Vice, Funny As Tech, Team Human
Award Winning Educator and International Speaker
Fellow and Faculty, Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change
Fellow, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Board of Directors of the Fair Media Council
Advisory Board Member of the Tech Incubator at Queens College
Long Island Business News 40 Under 40 and Who's Who in Education
Program Founder and Director
Founder: The New Media Program (major and minor) at Molloy College, an interdisciplinary bachelor of science degree
Co-founder: Game Studies BS Degree, Molloy College
Co-founder: Baldwin HS New Media Academy
Founder: HTVinteractive, Herbert School of Comm, Hofstra
Developer/Consultant: Vertical Video Lab, Herbert School of Comm, Hofstra
Connecting Community
I pride myself on being more than an academic in a classroom. Along with the Digital Void Project and teaching for Vital Thought, my goal is to connect with the community and work with others to make sense of this era in flux.
