Megan Strom

Assistant Professor
Global Cultures And Languages
315I Graff Main Hall
608.785.8320
mstrom@uwlax.edu

Specialty area(s)

Hispanic Linguistics, Critical Discourse Analysis, Social Semiotics, Spanish in the United States, Critical Media Studies

Brief biography

Broadly speaking, the overarching goal of my research is to promote more ethical and humane treatment of immigrants in the media. My research focuses on the representation of ideology in Spanish- and English-language media in the United States and the ways in which linguistic and semiotic structures in these media perpetuate or challenge the negative representations of Latin@ immigrants. Recent research projects include examining the ways in which the United States Spanish and English-language media represent unaccompanied Latin@ child immigrants, as well as how United States Spanish-language media represent sexual assault.

Beyond the university, I am dedicated to serving the local Spanish-speaking population. I have served as a volunteer medical and legal interpreter, ESL teacher, and community organizer to provide quality resources in Spanish to Latin@ immigrants. I am happy to work with students in these endeavors – please contact me if you are interested in getting involved.

Teaching history

SPA 201: Intermediate Spanish I

SPA 306: Spanish for the Health Professions

SPA 315: Business Spanish

Research and publishing

Publications

Strom, M. (forthcoming, Fall 2017). ¿Inglés Sin Barreras?: A multimodal social semiotic analysis of ideology and power. International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest.

Strom, M. and Alcock, E. (2017). Floods, waves, and surges: The representation of Latin@ immigrant children in the United States mainstream media. Critical Discourse Studies, 14(4), 440-457.

Strom, M. (2016). Spanish-language print media in the United States: A critical analysis of ideological representations in photojournalism. Social Semiotics, 26(2), 151-169.

Strom, M. (2015). Intersemiotic relationships in Spanish-language media in the United States: A critical analysis of the representation of ideology across verbal and visual modes. Discourse & Communication, 9(4), 487-508.

Strom, M. (2015). The discursive hierarchization of social actors in local Spanish-language print media. Discourse & Society, 26(2), 230-252.

Strom, M. (2013). Spanish-language print media in the United States: A critical discourse analysis of ideological representations. In Cabrelli Amaro, J., Lord, G., de Prada Pérez, A. and Aaron, J. (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 16th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 253-267). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

Strom, M. (2013). Constructing ‘them’ from ‘their’ perspective: The discursive identity of Latinos created by Latino authors. In Miller, P., Watzke, J. and Mantero, M. (Eds.), Readings in Language Studies, Volume 3 (pp. 85-103). St. Louis, MO: The International Society for Language Studies.

Recent Conference Presentations

“The discursive function and ideological implications of Spanish-English codeswitching in Mexican telenovelas”. 46th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, October 5-7, 2017.

“Representing sexual violence against women in El Diario/La Prensa: Discursive inequalities and alternatives for peace”. The International Society for Language Studies, “Intersections of Peace and Language Studies”. University of Hawaii – Manoa, June 15-17, 2017. With Dr. Autumn Reed.

“Portraying Latin@ child immigrants as ‘illegals/ilegales’ in the US media”. 45th Annual Meetingof the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. The University of Texas at Austin, September 15-17, 2016.

“U.S. Spanish-language news coverage of violence against women: A critical discourse analysis of passive voice”. The International Society for Language Studies, “A Critical Examination of Language and Society.” Normal, Illinois, June 23-25, 2016. With Dr. Autumn Reed.

“Floods, waves, and surges: The representation of Latin@ immigrant children in the United States mainstream media”. North Central Council of Latin Americanists, “Immigration, Emigration, Exile, and Return”. Waukesha, Wisconsin, September 24-26, 2015. With Emily Alcock, '17.

“What’s in a word? Presidente and presidenta in the Brazilian context.” North Central Council of Latin Americanists, “Immigration, Emigration, Exile, and Return”. Waukesha, Wisconsin, September 24-26, 2015. With Dr. Pedro dos Santos.

“Houston, we have solved our problem: A critical discourse analysis of La Voz de Houston”. 44th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. Lake Havasu, Arizona, September 10-13, 2015.

“Critically analyzing the critical discourse analyst”. The International Society for Language Studies, “Critical Language Studies: Focusing on Community”. Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 18-20, 2015.

“Who belongs in Spanish-language media? The case of Latin@ immigrants”. Invited Presentation: 2nd Annual Graduate Student Conference, “(Up)rooted & (Un)moored: Discourses of Belonging in Hispanic and Lusophone Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics”. University of Minnesota, April 10-11, 2015.

“Inscribing audience through contextual references in US Spanish-language print media”. 43rd Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. San Diego, California. September 18-20, 2014.

“The representation of ideology across space: The case of Spanish in the United States”. 7th  International Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics. University of Wisconsin-Madison. April 3-5, 2014.

Education

Ph.D, Hispanic Linguistics: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2013)

M.A., Applied Linguistics: Universidad de las Américas, Puebla (2008)

B.A., Spanish: Gustavus Adolphus College (2006)