Emma Brandt is an AMTD Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellow in Communication Arts, under the mentorship of Dr. Jordana Cox and Dr. Shana MacDonald. Her work focuses on the intersections of media, belief, and trust; in particular, in “environments of disbelief.” She is interested in what happens when shared information systems break down; how do people seek out trustworthy information in a context when expert and government sources are seen as corrupt and manipulative?
Her current book project, Media Metaphors: The Politics of News Consumption in Serbia, looks at youth social media use and media literacy organizations in Serbia, particularly how news is related to democracy and authoritarianism. Her work aims to further our understanding of public spheres across cultural contexts, looking beyond North America and Western Europe. Her next project will focus on alternative health movements online in a comparative and transnational context. Prior to coming to Waterloo, she completed a Ph.D. in Sociology at Northwestern University and has spent time teaching and researching in Serbia, Jordan, and Indonesia.
Selected Work:
Brandt, E. E. S., & Fine, G. A. (2022). Tarnished Nationalism. Rehabilitating Serbia’s Reputation on the World Stage. Sociologica, 16(2), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/13703
Brandt, E. E. S. (2022). Information Overload and Resistance. Emotions and Moral Frameworks in the Media Consumption of Serbian Youth. Digitalne Medijske Tehnologije I Društveno-Obrazovne Promene, 10, 193–206. https://digitalna.ff.uns.ac.rs/sadrzaj/2022/978-86-6065-752-9
Selected Fellowships and Awards:
Karpf Peace Prize, for original contributions to scholarship that promotes universal peace, goodwill, tolerance, and understanding. Northwestern Sociology, 2023.
National Council for Eurasian and East European Research (NCEEER) Dissertation Completion Grant. National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, 2023.
Fulbright Student Award, for dissertation research in Serbia. Fulbright Program, 2021.
Winch Prize for Best Second-Year Paper, for the best second-year paper in the Sociology department. Northwestern Sociology, 2020.
Equality, Development, and Globalization Studies (EDGS) Graduate Research Grant, for summer research on equality, development, and globalization studies. Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, 2019.