2026 Campbell Speaker Series: Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser

We are proud to welcome Dr. Sarah Banet-Weiser as the 2026 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell Speaker in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Banet-Weiser is the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the Lauren Berlant Professor of Communication. A leading interdisciplinary scholar of media, culture, gender, and power, she is the author or editor of eight books, including Believability: Sexual Violence, Media, and the Politics of Doubt, Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny, and the award-winning Authentic™: The Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand Culture. Her influential scholarship, editorial leadership, and mentorship have shaped critical cultural communication studies internationally, and she is a Fellow of the International Communication Association.

In her 2026 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell lecture, Dr. Banet-Weiser turns to the contemporary politics of gender, feminism, media culture, and reproductive justice.

It is clear from a glance across all media forms that in the mid 21st century, gender—and more explicitly, feminism—has been perceived as a threat; a threat to our children, our schools, our politics, our rights, and most importantly, our families.  Gender and feminism, while still the target of far-right rage, have been positioned as a key reason for democratic backsliding in multiple forms, including a rollback in reproductive rights.  

This dynamic is not new to the current moment, nor to the current US federal administration.  Rather, there have been many efforts across the world to retract gender-based rights and practices, ranging from dismantling reproductive and LGBTQ rights to canceling teaching about feminism and gender equality in schools. These efforts have multiple goals: creating feminism as the enemy; demolishing institutions such as higher education and the law and their authority; and perhaps most visibly, protecting a version of the family that is white, heterosexual, conservative, pronatalist or at least eager to raise multiple children.  

In this talk, Dr. Banet-Weiser analyzes the mechanisms through which this version of the family and the reproductive politics that structure it are expressed and made visible in media culture, from political influencers to tradwives. She will also consider how media and government policy intersect and what reproductive justice might look like in the contemporary political and cultural environment.

About Dr. Banet-Weiser

Sarah Banet-Weiser is the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and the Lauren Berlant Professor of Communication. Her scholarship examines media, culture, gender, power, and political life, with particular attention to popular feminism, misogyny, brand culture, sexual violence, and the politics of credibility. She is the author or editor of eight books, including Believability: Sexual Violence, Media, and the Politics of Doubt; Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny; and Authentic™: The Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand Culture, which received scholarly recognition. 

Banet-Weiser has also contributed to the field through editorial leadership, including as editor of American Quarterly, co-editor of Communication, Culture & Critique, and founding co-editor of the NYU Press book series Critical Cultural Communication Studies. She is a fellow of the International Communication Association and has held international fellowships and visiting professorships in Europe, Canada, and the United States