Madhavi Reddi’s academic and public facing scholarship focuses on the interplay between media, identity, and citizenship in the digital age - particularly in the context of South Asian American media representation. Through a critical cultural approach, she integrates theoretical perspectives with empirical analyses to examine how new media technologies, demographic shifts, and identity politics shape discourse around what it means to be “American” and more broadly, what it means to belong. Her work has appeared in journals such as New Media and Society and Communication, Culture and Critique. Currently, she is working on her first monograph tentatively titled “Second Generation Media” which argues that generational identity greatly shapes the dynamic between content creators and media consumers in articulating cultural citizenship and belonging in South Asian diasporic media.
Madhavi Reddi
Assistant Professor
B.A. Film and Media Arts American University (2014)
M.A. Communication, Culture and Technology Georgetown University (2018)
PhD. Media and Communication University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (2022)
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Research Areas
Additional Interests
- Asian American Media Studies
- Cultural Studies
- Critical Cultural Theory
Research Statement
Biography
Madhavi Reddi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Communication and Lehigh University. She received her PhD in Media and Communication from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC Chapel Hill in 2022 and comes to Lehigh University after having taught for three years at York College of PA as an Assistant Professor of Mass Communication.
As an educator, Reddi’s goals are to a) create a learning environment that is inclusive, engaging, and up to date, b) foster critical thinking skills and media literacy through exposure to multiple perspectives, and c) help students grow professionally by guiding them in original projects, creating networking opportunities, and giving them the tools to succeed in the workforce. Students often find her classroom to be a place of introspection where they learn a lot about themselves through engagement with the course content and their classmates. In her courses, students learn to think critically about how their lived experiences inform their understanding of not only the course materials, but the world around them.
Reddi’s professional background spans the fields of journalism, instructional multimedia, filmmaking, and dance. After receiving her B.A. in Film and Media Arts from American University, she worked as a videographer for NBC29 news in her hometown - Charlottesville, VA. During that time, she co-directed, wrote, and edited a short film titled What’s Your Name (2015) about an Indian American family navigating identity and belonging - the very questions that inform her research today. Prior to pursuing her M.A. in Communication, Culture, and Technology from Georgetown University, Reddi also worked as an instructional multimedia technologist at Strayer University.
Reddi is also a Bharatanatyam dancer (dance form from Southern India). She has performed across the United States and in India at venues such as the Kennedy Center, the Embassy of India in Washington, DC, the Philadelphia Fringe Arts Festival, the Vishakha Music and Dance Academy, and more. As a passionate educator, she also conducts Bharatanatyam lecture demonstrations in schools and community events. Blending her dual passions for dance and filmmaking, she directed, filmed, wrote and edited the documentary Through Fish Eyes, which follows the creative journey of Maryland-based dance company Prakriti Dance in producing a performance centered on ocean conservation.
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters
Kuo, R., Reddi, M., Li, L. (2025). “Transnational Information Networks: Methods for Cross-Diasporic Research.” International Journal of Communication, 19, 2361-2381.
Reddi, M. (2025). “Identity Propaganda.” Encyclopedia of Political Communication. Edgar Elgar Publishers.
Reddi, M., & Richards, J. (2024). “Never Have I Ever… Challenged Whiteness." In H.W. Holladay & C.L. Classen (Eds.), Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis (pp. 85-97). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032699622.
Reddi, M. (2024). “Immigrant Identity and Partisanship in US Political Campaigns.” In Lilleker, D., Jackson, D., Kalsnes, B., Mellado, C., Trevisan, F., & Veneti, A. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Political Campaigning. Routledge.
Reddi, M. (2023). “Shared Identity Endorsement Narratives in Political Campaigns: A framework for studying celebrity endorsements of minority politicians in the U.S.” Communication, Culture, & Critique, 16(3), 126-133. https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcad019.
Nguyen, S.1, Kuo, R.1, Reddi, M.1 Li, L.1, & Moran, R.1 (2022). Studying mis- and disinformation in Asian diasporic communities: The need for critical transnational research beyond Anglo-centricity. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review.
Reddi, M., Kuo, R., Kreiss, D. (2021). Identity Propaganda: Racial Narratives and Disinformation. New Media & Society, 25(8), 2201-2218. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211029293.
Reddi, M. (2018). Aliens as the Other in Post-Independence Hindi Cinema. Gnovis, 18(2), 29-38.
Public Scholarship
Reddi, M. (2024). Revisiting Indian-American identity in the 2024 U.S. presidential election (Report in U.S. Election Analysis 2024: Media, Voters and the Campaign). The Centre for Comparative Politics and Media Research. Available at: https://www.electionanalysis.ws/us/president2024/section-4-candidates-a….
Kreiss, D., Barrett, B., Reddi, M. (2021). The Need for Race-Conscious Platform Policies to Protect Civic Life. Tech Policy Press. Available at: https://techpolicy.press/the-need-for-race-conscious-platform-policies-…; (Reported in Top 50 Contributors list for Tech Policy Press)
Kreiss, D. & Reddi, M. (2021) How Identity Propaganda is used to undermine political power. Lawfare. Available at: https://www.lawfareblog.com/how-identity-propaganda-used-undermine-poli…
Reddi, M. (2020). Kamala Harris, Bobby Jindal, and the construction of Indian American identity in political campaigns (Report in U.S. Election Analysis 2020: Media, Voters and the Campaign). The Centre for Comparative Politics and Media Research. Available at: https://bit.ly/3eIJDEh
Refereed Conference Presentations and Panels
Reddi, M. & Legg Wood, C. (2025). “Fostering Self Reflexivity: Analyzing Mass Communication Students’ Reflections on Community Based Learning Projects.” Presented at the 2025 International Communication Association Conference, - June 14, 2025.
Reddi, M. (2024). “Social Media for Change: Using Social Media to Socialize Key Terms of Community Organizations.” Poster presentation - *Honorable Mention in the Best Practices in Teaching Competition, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication - August 8, 2024.
Walker, A., Goldman, A., Reddi, M., Meyer, M., Kraft, N., & Dahmen, N.S. (2024). “Practically Applying Media Ethics Skills in Entertainment Media Classrooms.” Teaching Panel Session, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication - August 8, 2024.
Reddi, M. (2024). “Second Generation Media: Examining ‘Progress’ in South Asian American media representation.” Presented in the Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2024 Conference - March 15, 2024.
Reddi, M. (2023). “Never Have I Ever…Challenged Whiteness.” Presented in the Critical and Cultural Studies division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication - August 7, 2023.
Reddi, M. & Delle, S. (2023). “Making ‘Professional’ Fit for Everyone in Academia: Decolonizing Professional Standards and Pedagogies at PWIs.” Presented at the Inaugural bell hooks Symposium - June 17, 2023.
Reddi, M. & Foster, M. (2023). “Beyond the Funny Cute: Analyzing Desi Masculinity in Stand-Up Comedy” Presented at the Cultural Studies Association 2023 Conference, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA - June 1-4, 2023.
Stewart, N., Reddi, M., G, S. (2023). “Polarizing Publics: Re-Imaging the Echo Chamber with the Quadrant of Polarization.” Presented at the International Communication Association 2023 Conference - May 28, 2023.
Reddi, M. (2023). “Second Generation Media: Examining Progress in South Asian American Media Representation.” Presented at the 2023 Association for Asian American Studies Conference - April 8, 2023.
Reddi, M. (2022). “Second Generation Media: Examining Progress in South Asian American Media Representation.” Presented at the South Asian Communication Association, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication - August 4, 2022.
Reddi, M. (2022). “Shared Identity Endorsement Narratives in Political Campaigns: A framework for studying celebrity endorsements of minority politicians.” Presented at the Ethnicity and Race in Communication Division, International Communication Association - May 30, 2022.
Kuo, R., Li, L., Reddi, M. (2022). “Transnational Information Systems: Multilingual and Community-Engaged Methods for Studying Mis/Disinformation in Asian Diaspora Communities.” Presented at the True Costs of Misinformation Workshop, Shorenstein Center, Harvard Kennedy School - March 10, 2022.
Reddi, M. (2021). “Negotiating Indian-American Identity in the Political Sphere: Kamala Harris, Bobby Jindal, and the Construction of Identity in Political Campaigns.” Presented at the National Communication Association Conference (NCA) - November 17-21, 2021.
Reddi, M. (2021). “Shared Identity Endorsement Narratives in Political Campaigns: A framework for studying celebrity endorsements of minority politicians.” Presented at the Minorities and Communication Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) - August 4-7, 2021.
Reddi, M. (2021). “Pursuit of the Traditional Indian Match: Mapping Colorism, Casteism, and Classism in Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking” Presented at the Cultural Studies Association Conference - June 10-12, 2021.
Reddi, M. (2021). “Is She Black, Indian, or American?: How the entertainment industry addresses the framing of Kamala Harris’ multidimensional identity” Presented at the Racialisation and the Media from Television to Twitter Public Scholarship Workshop, Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford - April 20-22, 2021.
Reddi, M. (2020). “Kamala Harris, Bobby Jindal, and the Construction of Identity in Political Campaigns.” Presented at the Political Communication Division pre-conference, American Political Science Association - September 7, 2020.
Barrett, B., Kreiss, D., and Reddi, M. (2020). “Empirical Approaches to Platform Governance Research.” Presented at workshop on Empirical Approaches in Platform Governance Research. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. June 17, 2020.
Reddi, M. (2018). “Tying the Knot: A Discussion with Indian Americans on Arranged Marriage through Bollywood.” Presented at the Global Fusions Conference, University of Virginia - October 20, 2018.
Teaching
Visual Communication (JOUR024)
[More to come in the Spring 2025 semester]