Tara Schuwerk

Professor of Communication and Media Studies

Tara Schuwerk uses qualitative research methods to explore communication as food/food as communication.

  • PhD, communication, The Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University
  • MA, communication, University of Central Florida

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Biography

Tara Schuwerk is a professor of communication and media studies and served as the Department Chair from 2017-2023. She is also affiliated with the Sustainable Food Systems program, for which she was Director from 2018-2022. She teaches several courses on food communication, as well as qualitative theory and methodology, internship courses, and senior research among others. Her research revolves around the intersections of communication, culture and identity, with a focus on food within those intersections, such as hunger-relief and food in the media.

More About Tara Schuwerk

Areas of Expertise

  • Food and Communication
  • Qualitative Research Methods

Course Sampling

  • Food and Nutrition in the Media
  • Food, Culture and Communication
  • Qualitative Theory and Methodology
  • Intercultural Communication
  • Internship
  • Senior Seminar
  • Senior Project

  • Food and communication
  • Food and nutrition discourse in the media
  • The social construction of food and identities
  • The scholarship of teaching and learning

  • Schuwerk, T. J., & Prody, J. (Eds.). (2022). Reconnecting: Food, popular culture, and the COVID-19 pandemic [Special issue]. Popular Culture Studies Journal, 10(1).
  • Schuwerk, T. J., & Prody, J. (2022). Food, popular culture, and the COVID-19 pandemic: Special issue introduction. Popular Culture Studies Journal, 10(1), 4-7.
  • Schuwerk, T. J. (2022). Altered foodways and (non)utilization of technology: COVID-19 and Baby Boomers. Popular Culture Studies Journal, 10(1), 141-157.
  • Schuwerk, T. J., & Cramer, S. E. (2022). Repackaging Leftovers: Health, food, and diet messages in influencer Instagram posts. In E. Contois and Z. Kish (Eds.), Food Instagram: Identity, influence, and negotiation (pp. 148-162). IL: University of Illinois Press.
  • Schuwerk, T. J. (2018). Exploring the relationship between multiple identities and communication through a classroom art gala. In J. Seiter, J. Peeples, & M. Sanders (Eds.), Communication in the classroom: A collection of GIFTS (pp. 251-254). New York: Bedford/St. Martins.
  • Graham, L., & Schuwerk, T. J. (2017). Teaching qualitative research methods using Undercover Boss. Communication Teacher, 31(1), 11-15. doi: 10.1080/17404622.2016.1244345
  • Schuwerk, T. J. (2016). [Review of the book Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli, by Ted Merwin]. The Popular Culture Studies Journal, 4(1-2), 470-473.
  •  Schuwerk, T. J. (2014). Critical consumption: Analyzing food and nutrition in media artifacts. Teaching Media Quarterly, 2(2).
  • Schuwerk, T. J., & Davis, A. (2013). Influencing factors on social media adoption in county-level emergency management departments. Florida Communication Journal, 41(2), 11-24.
  • Schuwerk, T. J. (2011). Food bank culture: Food & nutrition communication in a hunger-relief organization. In J. M. Cramer, C. P. Greene, & L. M. Walters (Eds.), Food as communication/ Communication as food (pp. 381-403). New York: Peter Lang.
  • LeGreco, M., Hess, A., Lederman, L. C., Schuwerk, T. J., & LaValley, A. G. (2010). An innovative dialogue about college drinking: Developing an Immediate Response Technology Model for health promotion. Communication Education, 59(3), 389-404.
  •  Schuwerk, T. J. (2010). Verbal language use: Translating for the situation. In L. A., Janusik, R. M. Berko, & L. Graham (Eds.), Instructor's resource manual for communicating: A social, career and cultural focus (11th ed., pp. 94-95). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
  • Lederman, L. C., LeGreco, M., Schuwerk, T. J., Cripe, E. T. (2008). A final word: Framing the future of health communication. In L.C. Lederman (Ed.), Beyond these walls: Readings in health communication (pp. 395-408). New York: Oxford University Press.
  •  Lederman, L. C., Stewart, L., Greenberg, J., Bates, C., LeGreco, M., & Schuwerk, T. J. (2007). LET'S TALK ABOUT IT. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Health Services.