Faculty
Carole V. Bell
Adjunct Professor
Contact Information
Biography
Dr. Carole V. Bell is a Jamaican-born communication researcher, teacher, writer, and critic with two decades of experience working at the intersection of media, culture, and politics. A passionate and analytical voice in the study of books, TV, film and democracy, her writing has appeared in print and digital media outlets including NPR, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, theGrio, Oprah Daily, and O! Magazine. Carole has also worked in news and public affairs radio, most notably at the syndicated program, The Story with Dick Gordon, where she produced features on social and political topics from military suicide and “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” to plural marriage.
As a researcher, Carole’s interests focus on the political implications of politics, news, and entertainment media and the role of social identity in attitudes and behavior. She earned her PhD at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism concentrating in political communication, public opinion, and public policy and communication effects. She also holds an MS in Television and Radio from Brooklyn College, and a BA in English and American Literature from Harvard College. After completing her graduate studies, she taught full-time at two major research universities, most recently Northeastern University, where she was Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Affiliated Faculty in Political Science.
Carole’s academic writing has been published in the International Journal of Press/Politics and essay collections including Parasocial Politics: Audiences, Pop Culture, and Politics, and she served as a co-investigator on a project exploring media, race and presidential politics that was funded by the Open Society Foundation. Her book project, The Politics of Interracial Romance in American Film, is a multi-method analysis of the representation, reception, and social and political significance of Black-White romantic narratives in American film since the Civil Rights Movement.
Research Areas
Media culture and society, Political communication, Political psychology, Media, politics, and social identity