Dr. Fitzgerald is a media and narrative scholar whose work explores how stories in entertainment and social media can help promote health, well-being, and prosociality. Guided by the belief that media can be a force for good, she integrates theories from communication and psychology to understand how people process and respond to narratives, with the goal of providing actionable, research-based guidance for communicators working to address real-world challenges.
Her work has shown how restorative narratives—stories of resilience and meaningful trajectory in the face of adversity—can inspire positive emotions and motivate helping behaviors. She also studies how media can help audiences engage with complex topics such as grief and loss, and how adolescents’ social media use relates to their well-being. She is an international collaborator on the
MIMIc Project at KU Leuven and has worked with the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement and the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research at Cornell. She has taught students in the U.S., Europe, and Singapore, and is driven by a passion for preparing the next generation of scholars and practitioners to use media as a tool for positive change.
