Genie Kuester
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Mail code: 2020Campus: Dtphx
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Student Information
Graduate StudentJournalism and Mass Communication
Cronkite School-Journ/MassComm
Genie Kuester is a first-generation scholar who grew up in a U.S. Army family where frequent relocations and time living overseas shaped an early awareness of culture, politics, and communication. Her mother served as a Russian interrogator and by adolescence she had attended more than six elementary schools before settling in Arizona for middle and high school. She began her academic training in film production at Scottsdale Community College before moving to California where she worked with MTV during the early years of reality television.
She returned to Arizona to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Political Science in the Politics and International Affairs Department at Northern Arizona University. Following graduate study, she spent several years working on the Navajo Nation in roles focused on economic development and public-sector collaboration. She is currently based in Phoenix as a doctoral student at the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication where her work focuses on political communication, media power, and contemporary public discourse.
- M.A. American Studies, Northern Arizona University
- B.S. American Political Science, Northern Arizona University
- A.A. Film Production, Scottsdale Community College
Genie's research examines political communication, media power, and digital persuasion through critical and cultural approaches with particular attention to political economy, discourse, and representation. Her research studies how contemporary media systems—platforms, podcasts, campaigns, and reality television—shape democratic life, normalize inequality, and enable new forms of ideological influence. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis, media theory, and political theory, her work addresses issues of platform governance, media ethics, populist rhetoric, and the cultural consequences of digital communication infrastructures. She is especially interested in how persuasion operates under conditions of economic precarity and technological mediation, and how media practices intersect with law, policy, and power.
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| MCO 120 | Media and Society |
| MCO 509 | Podcasting |
| MCO 509 | Podcasting |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JMC 115 | Civility Community Cronkite |
| JMC 115 | Civility Community Cronkite |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JMC 115 | Civility Community Cronkite |
| JMC 115 | Civility Community Cronkite |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JMC 115 | Civility Community Cronkite |
| JMC 115 | Civility Community Cronkite |