Namjin Lee
Associate Professor
Namjin Lee joined the Department of Communication in 2010. He teaches courses on such topics as political communication, public opinion in American politics, effects of mass communication, and communication research methods.
Dr. Lee received his Ph.D. in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining the Department, he served as a Research Fellow with a project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In this position, he conducted research on the role of new digital media in promoting civic and political engagement among young people. Before beginning his academic career, he worked as a television journalist in South Korea, where he was a correspondent with the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS). He holds an MA in journalism and mass communication from UW-Madison and a BA in history from Seoul National University. He lives in Mount Pleasant with his wife, Young, and their son, Sean.
His research concerns the role that political communication plays in our civic and political lives, with a special interest in how the consumption of news content in traditional and new media influences the ways in which people understand political matters, formulate political judgments, and participate in the political process. He has developed programs of research on (a) the capacity of mediated and interpersonal communication, particularly the Internet, to foster democratic citizenship, (b) media effects on political judgment and reasoning, and (c) the interplay of consumer culture and civic culture. He has published articles presenting this work in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Communication Research, Journal of Communication, and Political Communication, along with several book chapters.
Education
Ph.D., Mass communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A., Journalism and mass communication, UW-Madison
B.A., History, Seoul National University