Kristen Harrison

Kristen Harrison is the Richard Cole Eminent Professor at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. She runs the Family and Media Laboratory (FaMLab) and studies media content, uses and effects on children, adolescents and families, with an emphasis on body-related issues like health, the self-concept and social cognitions. Since the 1990s, she and her students have studied topics including media violence and aggression, body image and disordered eating, body mass and dietary intake, obesity, nutritional knowledge, healthy eating schemas, child feeding practices, sexual objectification, sexual behavior, AIDS stigma, media literacy and health literacy, self-esteem, problematic child media use, family media conflict, media and sleep, “empowerment” advertising, media and race, and typical and neurodivergent children’s use of media devices and content for sensory regulation. Her work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Illinois Department of Human Services and the William T. Grant Foundation, among others. Harrison was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome in early adulthood and has a keen interest in working to help her colleagues at UNC, and institutions of higher education in general, better accommodate the executive function needs of neurodivergent learners.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
• M.A., University of Wisconsin
• A.B., University of Michigan