Danny Parker is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. Her research examines the role communication ecologies play in the reproduction of poverty and the development of political identity. Her work has won awards from the International Communication Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and is published in Mass Communication and Society.
Research Focus
I am an ethnographer who chronicles the lived experiences of extremely impoverished rural and urban communities by living among them and documenting their everyday lives. A major facet of my research grapples with how structural conditions, from carceral state economics to news coverage of poverty-related issues, threaten equal access to democratic institutions and belief in democracy for poor communities. Another major facet of my research explores how personal stories of struggle within those structural conditions travel through interpersonal networks and become collective narratives that influence individual and collective identity and decision-making. My work has implications for government policy, non-profit organizational structure, news production, and journalism education.
Outreach
The primary goal of my work is to provide science-based solutions to structural barriers facing deeply impoverished communities. Outside of my research, I act as a consultant for non-profit news organizations aiming to incorporate the representation and concerns of poor communities in news production. I also advocate for my research participants by assisting them in accessing critical resources such as housing, nutrition, and healthcare.
Teaching Focus
As an educator, I think it is essential to impart what it means to be a learning community—how to collectively solve problems and find a meeting ground for consensus in times of contention. In doing so, I help students cultivate the logic and mutual respect required to thrive in a democracy. My courses are frequently structured around individual writing and long-term group projects that require mastery of complex material and intense group coordination. Group projects are centered around solving social problems, both theoretically and practically, and often require community engagement.
