Lauren Herold, Ph.D.
About Me
I am a scholar of queer media: my research explores LGBTQ television, local production, media history, and media activism. I am currently serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Kenyon College from 2022-2025. I was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor of Critical Identity Studies at Beloit College for the 2021-2022 academic year. In 2021, I received my PhD in Screen Cultures from the Radio/TV/Film department at Northwestern University.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, my work combines gender and sexuality studies with film, television, and media studies. My book project chronicles the rise of public access programming made by and for LGBTQ people and considers this programming as a televisual archive that offers insight into the structures of feelings circulating in queer communities in the 1970s-2000s.
As a scholar-activist, I prioritize leadership, service, and community involvement as well as research, writing, and teaching. I care deeply about cultivating equitable communities in academia by advocating alongside marginalized and underrepresented students, staff, and faculty.
Teaching, Mentorship, & Facilitation
As an educator, I prompt students to reconsider and rethink the world as they understand it. My goal as a teacher is to create equitable learning environments where students explore social justice issues and develop skills in thinking critically, writing, and communicating.
I have eight years of experience teaching at the undergraduate level and have taught both film and media studies and gender & sexuality studies. I created and taught these classes as an instructor of record:
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Intro to Women's and Gender Studies
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Intro to Queer Studies
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LGBTQ Media
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Queer and Feminist Feelings: The Cultural Politics of Emotion
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Sex, Race, & Power
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Thinking Queerly
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Trans Studies/Trans Activism
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LGBTQ TV
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By Any Media Necessary: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Media Activism
I served as a teaching assistant for the following classes:
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Feminism as Cultural Critique: The Second Wave
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Traditions of Feminist Thought
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Understanding Media Contexts
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Television History
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Acts of Passing in Film & Media
Research & Publications
Dissertation and Book Project
Starting in New York City in the 1970s, gay men and lesbians created public access television programs to shine a spotlight on their experiences, communities, issues, and businesses. My dissertation and first book project chronicle the rise of public access programming made by and for LGBTQ people, tracing the production, distribution, and reception and analyzing the content and textual features of a number of shows that aired on Manhattan cable access channels. As I address the significance of these shows, I ask: How did public access programming provide an emerging televisual forum for LGBTQ people to circulate queer community affects, experiences, issues, and activism? I combine archival research with interviews, textual analysis, content analysis, and historical analysis as I analyze these programs.
I created a list of these programs nationwide: click here to view it.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
"From gay liberation to backlash: producing pride and LGBTQ public culture on The Emerald City." Communication, Culture, & Critique, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcae038
"Affective Production Value on Queer Community Television: A Case Study of the Gay Cable Network and Gay USA.” New Review of Film and Television Studies, Vol 21, Issue 2, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17400309.2023.2196782
“Living out Loud: Queen Latifah and Black Queer Television Production.” Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, Vol. 60. 2021.
“Beyond the Gaze: Seeing and Being Seen in Contemporary Queer Media,” co-authored with Nicole Morse. Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, Vol. 60. 2021.
"Televisual Emotional Pedagogy: AIDS, Affect, and Activism on Vito Russo’s Our Time." Television and New Media, Vol. 21, Issue 1. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476418813440
Select Online Publications
"Scrappy, campy and unabashedly queer, public access TV series of the 1980s and 1990s offered a rare glimpse into LGBTQ+ life." The Conversation. June 4, 2024. https://theconversation.com/scrappy-campy-and-unabashedly-queer-public-access-tv-series-of-the-1980s-and-1990s-offered-a-rare-glimpse-into-lgbtq-life-230845
"In The Terrible We, Cameron Awkward-Rich Makes Space for Bad Trans Feelings." Autostraddle.com. June 2023. https://www.autostraddle.com/in-the-terrible-we-cameron-awkward-rich-makes-space-for-bad-trans-feelings/
"Clare Forstie Wants To Change the Way You Think About the Queer Midwest." Autostraddle.com. June 2023. https://www.autostraddle.com/clare-forstie-wants-to-change-the-way-you-think-about-the-queer-midwest/
"Mairead Sullivan's 'Lesbian Death' Tells Us Why The L Isn't Disappearing." Autostraddle. January 2023. https://www.autostraddle.com/mairead-sullivans-lesbian-death-tells-us-why-the-l-isnt-disappearing/
"What Dyke TV Can Teach Us About Independent LGBTQ Media." Autostraddle. August 2022. https://www.autostraddle.com/what-dyke-tv-can-teach-us-about-independent-lgbtq-media/
"Strategic Advocacy at the GLAAD Media Awards: An Interview with Rich Ferraro." New Review of Film and Television Studies blog. May 2022. https://nrftsjournal.org/strategic-advocacy-at-glaad/
"The Forgotten Gay Cable Network that Changed LGBTQ History." Slate. April 26, 2022. https://slate.com/human-interest/2022/04/gay-cable-network-lou-maletta-history-gay-usa.html
“Increasing Visibility, Increasing Restrictions: Abortion on TV.” Co-written with Steph Herold. The Los Angeles Review of Books. December 21, 2021. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/increased-visibility-increasing-restrictions-abortion-on-tv/
"'Reach Out to One Person a Day': Feminist AIDS Activists Reflect on COVID-19." Autostraddle.com, May 18, 2020. https://www.autostraddle.com/reach-out-to-one-person-a-day-feminist-aids-activists-reflect-on-covid-19/
“The Birth of a Nation and Cinematic Controversy: D.W. Griffith and Nate Parker’s Notorious Films.” Flavorwire.com, August 31, 2016. https://www.flavorwire.com/588185/the-birth-of-a-nation-and-cinematic-controversy-griffith-and-parkers-notorious-films.
Check out video clips and images from my research below! I am archiving this content on an Instagram account called @queers_on_cable. As a scholar invested in the public humanities, I hope that my research increases access to the history of local LGBTQ cable TV shows.
