Carolyn M. Cunningham teaches courses in communication theory, digital media, and women and leadership. Her research examines the intersections of gender and technology. She is the author of Games Girls Play: Contexts of Girls and Video Games (Lexington, 2018) and The Climate Girl Effect (Lexington, 2022). Her research has been published in journals including the Journal of Children and Media and New Media and Society. She is also the Director of the Northwest Alliance for Media Literacy:
Books
Cunningham, C.M. & Crandall, H.M. (2022). The Climate girl effect: Fridays, flint, and fire. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Cunningham, C. (2018). Games girls play: Contexts of girls and video games. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Edited Books
Cunningham, C.M., Crandall, H.C., & Dare, A.M. (Eds.) (2017). Gender, communication, and the leadership gap. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Cunningham, C., ed. (2013). Social networking and impression Management: Self-Presentation in the digital age. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Book Chapters
Cunningham, C. (2022). The (Climate) revolution will not be Colonized. In R. Lind (Ed.). Race/Gender/Class/Media: Considering Diversity across Audiences, Content, and Production (5th edition). Routledge.
Cunningham, C. & Bowers, J. (2020). Online rape culture and bystander intervention. G.C. Becker & A. Dionne (Eds), Rape culture 101: Programming change. Demeter Press.
Cunningham, C. (2016). She designs therefore she is?: Evolving understandings of girls and videogame design. L. Jensen & K. Valentine (Eds.). Examining the Evolution of Gaming and its Impact on Social, Cultural, and Political Perspectives (pp.147-169) Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Cunningham, C. (2015). Digital citizenship: Communication capabilities and technological literacy. In E. Brown (Ed). E-Learning & Social Media: Education and Citizenship for the Digital 21st Century (pp. 249-269). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Cunningham, C., & Crandall, H. (2014). Social media for social justice: Cyberfeminism in the digital village. In S.V. Iverson & J.H. James (Eds). Feminist Community Engagement: Achieving Praxis (pp. 75-92). New York: Palgrave.
Cunningham, C. (2012). Introduction. In Cunningham, C., (Ed). Social Networking and Impression Management: Self-Presentation in the Digital Age (pp. 1-11).
Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Cunningham, C., Custard, H., Straubhaar, J., Spence, J., Graber, D., & Letalien, B. (2012). Chapter 7: Crossing the Digital Divide: Local Initiatives in Austin Texas.” In J. Straubhaar, B. Lentz, Z. Tufekci, & J. Spence, (Eds.) Inequity in the Austin Technopolis: Race, Class, Gender and the Digital Divide in the Austin Technopolis (pp. 135-164). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Cunningham, C., & Strover, S. (2010) “Rural Community in the Networked Environment.” In P. Golding, & G. Murdoch (Eds.). Unpacking Digital Dynamics (pp. 125-146) New York: Hampton Press.
Cunningham, C. (2009). Democracy and the digital divide. In L. Stein, L., D. Kidd and C. Rodriguez (Eds). Making Our Media: Global Initiatives Toward a Democratic Public Sphere (pp. 207-222). New York: Hampton Press.
Cunningham, C.(2007). Creating girl engineers: Strategies from two national programs.”Ingelore Welp (ed.) Gender in Engineering Problems and Possibilities (pp. 19-34). New York: Peter Lang.
Phillips, D.J. & Cunningham, C. (2007) Queering surveillance research, in K. O’Riordan, & D.J., (eds.) Queers Online: Media Technology and Sexuality (pp. ). New York: Peter Lang.
Cunningham, C., Custard, H., Straubhaar, J., Letalien, B., & Spence, J. (2005). “Defining the digital divide from below: Local initiatives in Austin Texas.” In O. Jambeiro and J. Straubhaar (Eds). Políticas de informação e comunicação, jornalismo e inclusão digital: O Local e o Global em Austin e Salvador (Information and communication policy, journalism and digital inclusion: The local and global in Austin and Salvador) (pp.217-296 ). Federal University of Bahia Press.
Peer-Reviewed Journals
Cunningham C. M. (2020). Suddenly…technologically literate? The need for a capabilities approach. Journal of Literacy and Technology, 21(3), 29-43.
Satterwhite, R., Sarid, A., Cunningham, C. M., Goryunova, E., Crandall, H. M., Morrison, J. L., Sheridan, K., Miller, M. (2020). Contextualizing our leadership education approach to complex problem solving: Shifting paradigms and evolving knowledge: Priority 5 of the National Leadership Education Association. Journal of Leadership Studies, 14(3), 63-71.
Cunningham, C., Hazel, M., Hayes, T. (2020). Communication and leadership 2020: Intersectional, mindful, and digital. Communication Research Trends, 39(1), 1-35.
Cunningham, C. M., & Crandall, H. M. (2019). Learning the language of justice through play. Journal of Hate Studies, 15(1), 183-202.
Cunningham, C. (2018). Unbeatable? Debates and divides in gender and video game research. Communication Research Trends, 37(3), 4-29.
Crandall, H.M. & Cunningham, C. (2018). Playing for change: Rhetorical strategies in human rights video games. Relevant Rhetoric, 9. http://relevantrhetoric.com/
Reviews
Cunningham, C.M. (2021). Gamer trouble: Feminist confrontations in digital culture. The Strong’s American Journal of Play.
Cunningham, C. M. (2021). What’s the problem with problem gaming? Communication Research Trends, 40(1), 41-43.
Cunningham, C. (2016). This is why we can’t have nice things: Mapping the relationship between online trolling and mainstream culture. Feminist Media Studies, 15(5), 933-934.
Cunningham, C. (2014). Identity technologies: Constructing the self online. Biography, 37(4), 791-795.
Cunningham, Carolyn. (2013). Connecting social problems and popular culture: Why media are not the answer. Communication Research Trends, 32(4), 39-40.
Cunningham, C.( 2003). Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children.” Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, 5(2), 205-206.
Encyclopedia Articles
Cunningham, C. (2014). “Women’s centers.” The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies. R. J . Michael. (Ed.)
Cunningham, C. (2012) “Media convergence.” Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. Kosult, Mary and Golson, Geoffrey. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Cunningham, C. (2012). “Video games—Representations of femininity.” Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. Kosult, Mary and Golson, J. Geoffrey. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Cunningham, C. (2012). “Media ethnography.” Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. Kosult, Mary and Golson, J. Geoffrey. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Cunningham, C. (2012). “Social media.” Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. Kosult, Mary and Golson, J. Geoffrey. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
