{"id":5647,"date":"2024-12-06T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-07T02:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/?p=5647"},"modified":"2025-05-21T11:20:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:20:40","slug":"crc-seed-grant-spotlight-annemarie-mcclains-study-on-media-and-marginalized-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/2024\/12\/06\/crc-seed-grant-spotlight-annemarie-mcclains-study-on-media-and-marginalized-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"CRC Seed Grant Spotlight: AnneMarie McClain\u2019s Study on Media and Marginalized Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Violet Li<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The inaugural CRC Faculty Research Seed Grants, awarded last Spring, have provided essential support for innovative projects advancing communication scholarship. These grants foster inter-departmental collaboration and address pressing societal\"\" issues, showcasing the power of research to make meaningful contributions. As we look ahead to the next round of funding in Spring 2025, we celebrate the grant recipients and their exceptional work.<\/p>\n

In this article, we spotlight the research of Professor AnneMarie McClain, whose community-engaged study highlights the intersection of media representation and identity among marginalized youth. Below, she shares an overview of her research, the invaluable role of the CRC Faculty Research Seed Grant, and her aspirations for the impact of this work.<\/p>\n

Research Overview and Goals
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor\u00a0<\/span>AnneMarie<\/span>\u00a0McClain (she\/her) is running a series of community-engaged focus groups with LGBTQ+ children (ages 3 to 17) and their families, in partnership with two LGBTQ+ youth nonprofit organizations and a seasoned children\u2019s media content expert, Elly Kramer. Since there is striking little research about what particular kinds of representations are most affirming, useful, and effective for marginalized youth and their families,\u00a0<\/span>AnneMarie<\/span>\u00a0and her research team will explore what kinds of media this particular community of kids and families need and want to see in their children\u2019s media representation, and what kinds of media they already use to help them navigate identity. The intention is to share results and recommendations for content with folks in both industry and academia.<\/span><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Violet: “How the CRC Faculty Research Seed Grant has enabled your work, particularly in ways that would not have been possible without the funding?”<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
Professor McClain:<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe CRC Faculty Research Seed Grant has been essential to this project, and I\u2019m so honored to have received one. Focus groups are expensive and time-intensive. We need to feed people, compensate participants well, have supplies (e.g., markers, paper) for kids to participate, and compensate the nonprofit partners who are integral to recruitment efforts and data collection. Additionally, given the sensitive topics discussed and vulnerability of this community, we also need to ensure that transcriptions are made via a company that does HIPPA-compliant services, which adds another cost. With my CRC Grant, I am able to cover all of these expenses, as well as pay for a wonderfully talented undergraduate RA to round out my team of strong graduate student RAs. The fact that this project has institutional financial support from COM also meant a lot to one of the LGBTQ+ youth organizations we are working with, because it helped communicate the value of this work.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Violet:”What are your hopes for the future impact of this research, and how do you envision its potential applications or long-term objectives?”<\/strong><\/div>\n
\n
Professor McClain:<\/strong>
\n\u201cWe have so many goals for this project! One goal is to push the field of children\u2019s media scholarship forward theoretically; there is little work that has been done in terms of robust theorizing around the representation preferences and selections for marginalized kids, and I see ways to combine various theoretical traditions to expand our frameworks and understanding. This study is only the first of a long series of projects that I envision doing that centers this community and the ways they use media.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
I also hope that the project can serve as an example of the kind of inclusive methodology that can generate meaningful partnerships and findings that can be used to make a tangible difference in the lives of kids and families. Related to this, we plan to share the results and recommendations with folks in the children\u2019s media industry, and we hope to co-design those recommendations with children\u2019s media colleagues, our nonprofit partners, and kids and families. Media have so much potential to affirm kids and help them navigate identity, including as it relates to experiences with bias. We hope to get more conversations started about exactly what kinds of representation might help promote positive outcomes for kids who are looking to see themselves.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The CRC Faculty Research Seed Grants demonstrate the transformative potential of targeted funding in advancing communication research and fostering meaningful societal impact. Professor McClain\u2019s work is a testament to how these grants empower scholars to tackle pressing issues with innovative approaches, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable future. As the CRC prepares for the next round of funding, we look forward to supporting more groundbreaking projects that bridge academia, industry, and community to address the challenges of our time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Violet Li The inaugural CRC Faculty Research Seed Grants, awarded last Spring, have provided essential support for innovative projects advancing communication scholarship. These grants foster inter-departmental collaboration and address pressing societal issues, showcasing the power of research to make meaningful contributions. As we look ahead to the next round of funding in Spring 2025, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5647"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5957,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5647\/revisions\/5957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/crc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}