School of Communication Assistant Professor Arienne Ferchaud, Ph.D., was awarded a McKnight Junior Faculty Development Fellowship for the 2021 – 2022 academic year.
The Florida Education Fund (FEF) has selected over 230 historically underrepresented minorities and women for Faculty Development Fellowships since the program was created in 1984. In an effort to support faculty diversity, tenure, and promotion within Florida colleges and universities, the program awards fellows with a one-year sabbatical with full salary and benefits in order to engage in research and training projects.
“I am so humbled to be selected for this fellowship,” Ferchaud said. “It is really an honor for the selection committee to not only recognize the importance of my work but to offer their support. Additionally, I am so grateful that my colleagues thought highly enough of me and my work to write strong letters of recommendation. All in all, I’m just beyond stoked.”
Ferchaud focuses her research broadly on emerging media entertainment from a media psychology perspective. She is interested in how new media technologies change the way users engage with entertainment content. She has a special interest in narrative theory and how new modes of storytelling change how stories are perceived.
“I am excited to really focus in on how entertainment media can be good for society,” Ferchaud said. “Recently I’ve been doing some work on video games and mental health stigma, and I expect to continue that line of research, among others.”
Although Ferchaud’s selection for the fellowship means she will not teach during the school year, she is confident that the opportunity to concentrate solely on research will create meaningful experiences for her future students.
“I am going to miss all my wonderful students, of course, but this will, in the long run, make me a better teacher, as I’ll get the chance to conduct research that I can then bring into the classroom.”
Ferchaud’s work has been published in journals such as Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, Human Communication Research, and Imagination, Cognition and Personality. Her research has been presented at both national and international conferences. She is also the author of Binge and Bingeability: The Antecedents and Consequences of Binge Watching Behavior. She earned a Ph.D. in Mass Communications in 2018 and M.S. in Media Studies in 2015 from Pennsylvania State University, and a bachelor’s from Louisiana State University in Mass Communication in 2013.
Click here to learn more about Ferchaud’s research and teaching experiences.