A study of the politics embedded in our major institutions, our common practices of mediated debate, and the way we collectively think about what “the public” is and what it ought to do.

A Strategic Nature

How online misinformation shapes public understanding of climate change and what mechanisms might rebuild civic trust in climate science.

All Tech is Human

U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works hearing room. Briefing Congressional staff and students on industry maneuvering amid current U.S. Administration efforts to roll back environmental protections.

Congressional Briefing

Branding the Nation challenges the received wisdom about the power of brands to change the world, and offers a critical perspective on these new ways of conceiving value and identity in the twenty-first century.

Branding the Nation

Photo: Blaga Ditrow

Melissa Aronczyk is Professor of Media Studies in the School of Communication & Information at Rutgers University. She is an expert in information politics in online and offline environments. Her research examines organized persuasion and influence brokers, promotional strategies and campaigns, and their implications for democracy and public life.

She is the co-author, with Maria Espinoza, of A Strategic Nature: Public Relations and the Politics of Environmentalism (Oxford University Press, 2022), winner of the Roderick P. Hart Outstanding Book Award in Political Communication from the National Communication Association.

Her research has been featured in The Nation, the Financial Times, Rolling Stone, CNBC, & The Intercept, among other national and international press outlets. She has also written for The Washington Post and Foreign Policy magazine. You can hear her talk about her work on This Moment in Democracy (Eagleton Institute of Politics), Drilled (The Media as a Tool of Climate Obstruction), and the New Books Network.

Her previous books include Branding the Nation: The Global Business of National Identity, and Blowing Up the Brand: Critical Perspectives on Promotional Culture, edited with Devon Powers.

At Rutgers, Dr. Aronczyk is co-founder and co-director of the Digital Ethnography Working Group, an international research and mentoring initiative. She teaches courses on critical research methods, media and politics, and climate and sustainability. From 2023–2026, Dr. Aronczyk is Graduate Director of Rutgers’ PhD Program in Communication, Information and Media.

She is a frequent guest lecturer at national and international institutions including Harvard University, the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics, and the University of Helsinki. She holds an honorary appointment as adjunct Research Professor in Communication and Media Studies at Carleton University in Canada. She is regularly invited to give talks and briefings about her research to journalists, policymakers and public audiences and has provided expert statements to congressional representatives.

Dr. Aronczyk is a member of the international Scientific Panel on Information Integrity about Climate Science, interim chair of the Greenwashing Working Group of the Climate Social Science Network, a member of TACT Climate (Taking Action on Civic Trust in Climate Science), and a Research Associate at the Canadian climate communications center Re.Climate.

Dr. Aronczyk holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University. She lives in New York City with her family.