Biography
Expertise
Madison Barnes-Nelson (she/her) is a Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) in Media and Cultural Studies. Her dissertation is an audience research study that examines the roles and meanings of mediated comedy in young women’s everyday lives. Her research expertise includes qualitative methods and analysis and textual analysis of television & film, with an emphasis on teen & young adult media.
She has presented her research at conferences including Society for Cinema and Media Studies, International Communication Association, and Console-ing Passions. Madison is currently a Program Manager for UW-Madison’s Creative Futures Lab. Recently, Madison was a Summer Research Intern at the Los Angeles-based media insights firm Screen Engine/ASI.
Education
- M.A. – Communication Studies, Colorado State University
- B.A. – Communication Studies, double-minor in Business and Spanish, Gonzaga University
Publications
- 2025. “Emmys Watch 2025 – The Studio – Television (About Movies), Now More Than Ever.” Pop Junctions. https://henryjenkins.org/blog/2025/9/9/emmys-watch-2025-the-studio-television-about-movies-now-more-than-ever
- 2025. Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–and the Magic that Makes it Work by Jesse David Fox. Television and New Media.
- 2024. Gray, Jonathan; Marx, Nick; Barnes-Nelson, Madison. “Television Comedy.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Cinema and Media Studies, edited by Krin Gabbard. New York: Oxford University Press: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0186.xml?p=emailAYOueSKrxLUNA&d=/document/obo-9780199791286/obo-9780199791286-0186.xml
- 2023. “Female Friendship and Intersectional Allyship on Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” In Race/Gender/Class/Media (5th ed.), edited by Rebecca Ann Lind. New York: Routledge, 188-193.
- 2023. Consent Culture and Teen Films: Adolescent Sexuality in US Movies by Michele Meek. New Review of Film and Television Studies.
- 2023. Micro Media Industries: Hmong American Media Innovation in the Diaspora by Lori Kido Lopez. Media Industries Journal, Volume 10, Issue 1, 87-90.
Teaching Experience
- CA 155 – Intro to Media Production (TA)
- CA 359 – Sports Media (TA)
- CA 250 – Survey of Contemporary Media (TA)
- CA 449 – Sound Cultures: Podcasting and Music (Grader)
Service & Activities
- TV Entertainment Screening Committee, Peabody Awards, 2023 – 2025
- Telluride Film Festival FilmSCHOLAR, September 2025
Awards
- Helen K. Herman Award, UW-Madison, Spring 2026 (given in recognition of excellence in research, teaching and extra-curricular activities)
- Baxter Research Award, UW-Madison, Spring 2026 (supports ongoing dissertation research)
- Elliott Dissertation Scholarship, UW-Madison, Spring 2026 (awarded to students who pass their dissertation proposal defense no later than one year after completing their preliminary examinations)
- Graduate Student Support Competition (GSSC) Fellowship, UW-Madison, Spring 2026 (Fellowship appointment that supports a dissertator’s research)
- Charles Chester Pearce Scholarship, UW-Madison, Spring 2025 (This award is given for the purpose of funding student research and encouraging excellent performance skills)
- Sharon Sites Award, UW-Madison, Spring 2024 (awarded to outstanding women in Film & Media and Cultural Studies areas of Communication Arts)
- Gordon F. Hostettler Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Master’s Student, Colorado State University Department of Communication Studies, Spring 2023