Dr. Vikki Katz
- Education:
- University of California, Los Angeles, Bachelor of Arts
University of Southern California, Master of Arts
University of Southern California, Ph.D.
Biography
Vikki Katz conducts research with children and young adults from lower-income, working-class, and immigrant families within the United States. She examines how children and adults develop communication strategies to address challenges they face in everyday life related to (a) technology access and engagement and (b) managing high-stakes interactions in schools, medical facilities, social services, and family courts. Dr. Katz’s research examines how digital inequality can influence social disparities related to education, wellbeing, and legal protection—and the communication assets that children and adults deploy in these settings.
Prior to joining the Chapman University faculty in 2022, Dr. Katz was a professor in the Communication Department at Rutgers University. She has also served as a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation and Senior Research Fellow at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.
She has served as Editor of Journal of Children and Media since 2019.
Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications
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Katz, V.S., & Bond, B. (2023, Eds.). Children and media research and practice during the crises of 2020. Routledge.
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Katz, V.S., & Jordan, A.B. (2023). Connectivity, connection, and care during the COVID-19 pandemic. In T. Politano (Ed.), Rutgers 2020. Rutgers University Press.
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Katz, V.S., & *Hightower, B. (2023). How class matters: Examining working-class children’s home technology environments from a developmental perspective. International Journal of Communication, 17, pp. 4057–4078.
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Reisdorf, B.C., & Katz, V.S. (2023) A pandemic silver-lining: Remote learning and increased intergenerational technology guidance within lower-income families. International Journal of Communication.
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Katz, V.S. Media and digital inequality. (2022). In D. Lemish (Ed.), The Routledge International Handbook of Children, Adolescents, and Media (2nd ed.). Routledge.