Department of Communication Arts
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Maureen Mauk

Media and Cultural Studies

she/her

 

mtmauk@wisc.edu

2153 Vilas Hall

Maureen Mauk

Expertise and Activities

Maureen Mauk is a PhD Candidate in the Communication Arts department at University of Wisconsin- Madison focusing on Media & Cultural Studies. She carries a decade of experience serving in Los Angeles as a Television Standards & Practices executive and environmental activist. Her experience in the television arena includes work at FOX Broadcasting, Mattel, 20th Century Fox TV Studios, NBC’s “The Office,” and other series including “Brothers & Sisters,” “Scrubs” and “Malcolm in the Middle.” Her research interests include the study of media policy, children’s media content and its industry, and the use of social media for social and environmental betterment, particularly by mothers. Mauk is currently researching and writing her Dissertation studying the intertwined relationship between parents, policy, and industry as it relates to television history and the current platformized media landscape. Mauk recently won the First Place SCMS (Society of Cinema and Media Studies) Award for her research article entitled: “Politics is Everybody’s Business: Resurrecting Faye Emerson, America’s Forgotten First Lady of Television.” The article was published in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies Issue 59.4 August 2020.

Education

  • Expected Graduation May 2023 – Ph.D Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • M.S. Communication- Television, Boston University, 2007
  • B.S. Communication, Cornell University, 2001

Honors/Awards

  • 1st Place- Student Writing Award: “Politics is Everybody’s Business: Resurrecting Faye Emerson, America’s Forgotten First Lady of Television”, Society of Cinema and Media Studies, 2019
  • (2021) Kepley Teaching Award: UW Madison Communication Arts
  • (2021) Chancellor’s Fellowship – UW-Madison, Summer ’21
  • (2019) Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies Graduate Student Grant Recipient
  • (2019) Sharon Sites Scholarship in Radio, Television, and Film (Acknowledging outstanding women in the Film and Media and Cultural Studies)
  • (2018) University Housing Honored Instructor, UW Madison- Awarded to teachers who students say, “Inspire them, motivate them, encourage them, and broaden their horizons.”
  • (2016-2017) City of Torrance, Cable Television Advisory Board, Commissioner

Selected Publications

Research-Related Media Production

  • (2021) Faye – Scripted dramedy based on Faye Emerson’s contributions to TV History, TV series, in development with All is Well Entertainment (my company). Showrunner Keith Heisler. Represented by United Talent Agency.
  • (2018) The Lifesaving Medal, 6 minutes. Selected for the 2019 Wisconsin Film Festival. Created in partnership with The Wisconsin 101 Project – Our History in Objects. U.S. Color/Sound. https://wi101.wisc.edu/2020/09/09/object-history-lifesaving-medal/
  • (2006) The 13th Crossing, 44 min. Masters Thesis Documentary, Ireland & U.S. Color/Sound. A historical documentary narrative on immigration, feminism, transnational relationships, families, freedom and power told across four generations of Irish women.

Invited Presentations

INVITED TALKS

  • “Pathways and Careers in the Media Industry-Hollywood,” Hollywood Badgers Professional Organization, March 2021.
  • “Politics is Everybody’s Business: Resurrecting Faye Emerson” Center for the History of Print & Digital Culture, Madison, WI, September 2018. WATCH
  • “Mauk Talk: Breaking into the TV Industry- UW Madison Journalism School and Communication Arts Q&A session for Undergraduates, February 2018.
  • South Coast Air Quality Monitoring District – FLARE Community Response- Investigative Hearing on Torrance Refining Co., April 2017.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

  • (2021) “Adulting through the Affordances of Netflix Kids’ Maturity Ratings. Panel Chair: Tilling Walled Gardens & Cultural Swamps: Algorithms in Kids’ Digital Media. Society of Cinema and Media Studies, virtual conference.
  • (2020) “The Tensions of Parenting Amidst Parental Controls: Regulatory & Cultural Implications of TV V-Chip Ratings and Digital Platforms.” 9th Child and Teen Consumption Conference, Rutgers, NJ (cancelled due to 2020 Pandemic).
  • (2020) “Adulting through the Affordances of Netflix Kids’ Maturity Ratings. Panel Chair: Tilling Walled Gardens & Cultural Swamps: Algorithms in Kids’ Digital Media.  Society of Cinema and Media Studies, Denver, CO (cancelled due to 2020 Pandemic).
  • (2019) Panelist: Platform Governance moderated by Tarleton Gillespie. Post ICA Conference: Creator Governance: Platforms, Policies, Regulation, & Rights. Washington, DC.
  • (2019) “Mediated Girlhoods: Constructing Identity: Marketing the Tween Girl Coder.” Society of Cinema and Media Studies, Seattle, WA.
  • (2019) “Marketing the Tween Girl Coder: Coding initiatives, parenting, and preadolescent girls.” International Girls Studies Association Conference, Notre Dame, IN.
  • (2018) “Beyond her Bosom: Faye Emerson, the Forgotten First Lady of Television,” Calling the Shots- Doing Women’s Film & Television History, Southampton, England.

Guest Lectures

  • (2021) “History of V-Chip Ratings & Television Regulation,” Television History, University of Georgia, Taylor Cole Miller, March 25.
  • (2021) “Television Standards & Practices in TV Comedy,” CA540 Television Genres, UW-Madison, Dr. Jonathan Gray, March 23.
  • (2021) “Historical Methods- Researching Early TV in the Archives,” CC9900 Advanced Research Methods, York University, Dr. Natalie Coulter, March 3.(2020) “Children’s Television & Digital Media Regulation,” MAS 590 Kids Media, University of Kentucky, Dr. Kyra Hunting, February.
  • (2019) “Television Standards & Practices Modern Perspectives for History of NBC Television Course,” CAS CI 590, Boston University, Dr. Deborah Jaramillo, October.
  • (2019) “Children’s Television and Streaming Regulation, CARU and YouTube Updates,” Little Dot Entertainment, Los Angeles, July.
  • (2019) “Big Data and Privacy,” CA250 Survey of Contemporary Media, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Jonathan Gray, April.
  • (2018) “The Bleeping World of Standards & Practices and CARU,” Entertainment Law Graduate Course, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, April.
  • (2017) “Broadcast Standards & Practices & Children’s Advertising,” J616 Mass Media and Youth, University of Wisconsin School of Journalism, Dr. Karyn Riddle, November.
  • (2017) “Bleeping Broadcast Standards & Practices” Broadcasting, Boston University Dept. of Film & Television, Dr. Deborah Jaramillo, October.
  • (2017) “Television Comedy Censorship, Regulation & Negotiation,” CA540 Television Comedy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Jonathan Gray, October.
  • (2016) “Broadcast Standards & Practices and Children’s Commercial Consideration,” Entertainment Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Courses Taught

  • CA155 Introduction to Digital Production (2019, 2020, 2022) UW Madison, Communication Arts
  • CA250 Survey of Contemporary Media (2017, 2018, 2019) UW Madison, Communication Arts
  • Gender & Communication, (2005) Boston University, Communication Science
  • Effective Listening, (2001) Cornell University, Agriculture & Life Sciences-Communication Dept.

Selected Media Appearances

WORKSHOPS AND ROUNDTABLES

  • (2018) ‘Young, Created, Connected’ Symposium: “Changing Family Cultures: The Politics of Learning with Digital Media,” October, Madison WI.
  • (2018) “How Rude! Netflix’s Fuller House and the Digital V-Chip Ratings for Audience Programming,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Seminar: New Possibilities for the American TV Series, Toronto, CA.

SELECT MEDIA APPEARANCES/ RESEARCH IN THE NEWS

Links

GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS & FELLOWSHIPS

RESEARCH TEAM FUNDING

(2021) Children, Media, and Parenting in the COVID-19 Pandemic                                   $39,975

  • Jan-Dec 2021.
  • Vilas Life Cycle Grant, UW-Madison funding
  • PI: Rebekah Willett
  • Collaborators: Maureen Mauk, UW-Madison, USA; Becky Coles, independent researcher, UK; Natalie Coulter,York University, Canada; Sarah Healy, Deakin University, Australia; and Hyeon-Seon Jeong, Gyeongin National University of Education, Korea.

(Submitted) Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)                        $200,000

Kids, KidTech and the Metaverse: Global childhoods in digital capitalism

  • Partnership Development Grant
  • PIs: Coulter (York) and R. Willett (UW-Madison)
  • Co-Applicants: A. Harvey (York), M.Dezuanni (QUT, Australia) and Jeong (GINUE, South Korea)
  • Collaborators: D. de Jesus (York), H. Jensen (Aarhus), M. Mauk (UW-Madison), M. McKee (Cambrian) K. McPherson (Ryerson), C. Mecija (York), Morris (UW- Madison), A. Shabtay, A. Sriskandarajah (York)
  • The KidTech project, a partnership of 4 international universities, York (Canada), UW-Madison (USA) Queensland University of Technology (Australia) and Gyeongin National University of Education (South Korea), seeks to address the rapidly shifting spaces of children’s digital cultures and media and how these spaces are impacted by the global expansion of digital capitalism

 

 

EXTERNAL GRANTS

(2017) Southern California Air Quality Management District Grant                         $2.2 million

  • Won AQMD Supplemental Environmental Program (SEP) Fund Grant (over 14 other applications) that then was employed by Sonoma Technology to install comprehensive air quality monitoring in Torrance, CA surrounding oil refinery to measure pollutants.
  • The project utilizes some of the penalty payment paid by ExxonMobil post-explosion to create a monitoring and alert system in the community to provide warnings and updates to residents regarding chemicals in the air.
  • As co-founder and leader of FLARE (Families Lobbying Against Refinery Exposures), an organization created in response to environmental justice issues, I melded professional skills with lobbying and legal skills to apply for and advocate for penalty grant following ExxonMobil Oil refinery Explosion.