Hello! I am an Assistant Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication at Bradley University. Before Bradley, I completed my Ph.D. in the Department of Communication & Culture at Indiana University.
My book, Social TV: Multi-Screen Content and Ephemeral Culture, is out now via the University Press of Mississippi. It reveals how the US television industry promised—and failed to deliver—a social revolution in the 2010s.
My research focuses on media industry convergences, particularly legacy media institutions’ use of “new” technology in content strategies. I have published work in Television & New Media, Women’s Studies in Communication, The Popular Culture Studies Journal, From Networks to Netflix: A Guide to Changing Channels, and Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies. I am also the co-editor of three collections, including The Age of Netflix: Critical Essays on Streaming Media, Digital Delivery, and Instant Access, which received a Korean translation in late 2019.
I teach courses on journalism, digital media, and Hollywood. I’m also active in the community, teaching media courses in Bradley’s Osher Lifelong Learning program and leading a media literacy initiative in partnership with the Peoria Public Library.
I’ve worked as a freelance culture writer since 2010 with bylines in TV Guide, Complex, and Vox, among others. I also produced and co-hosted TV.com/CBS Interactive’s Totally Tubular podcast.
You can email me at cabarker [at] bradley [dot] edu or barkerc65 [at] gmail [dot] com.
CB, PhD 