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Karen Riggs, Ph.D.

  • Professor of Media Studies
  • Coordinator, Scripps College of Communication Social Media Certificate
Karen Riggs View high-resolution photo
Scripps College of Communication

Areas of Expertise

Expert Bio

An expert on social media, politics, identity, and the digital divide, Dr. Karen E. Riggs founded the Scripps College of Communication Social Media Certificate program in 2013. It was one of the first such programs in the United States and, with more than 200 students now enrolled, speedily became one of Ohio University's largest certificate programs. Certificate students gain high-demand, emergent career skills and critical social media literacy from faculty teaching in all five Scripps College schools.

Riggs' passions lie in understanding the cultural transformation that social media has spurred. She continues to develop new courses, such as Content Curation — a course that leads students through an emergent and intensifying field where practitioners innovatively filter, organize, present, and maintain aggregated web content — that trail-blaze this popular skill-set in higher education. Riggs has published two books on media technologies and older users: "Granny @ Work: Age and Technology on the Job in America" and "Mature Audiences: Television in the Lives of Elders." In "Granny @ Work” Riggs analyzes how older people in the workplace deal with challenges presented by technological change.

Expertise at a Glance

Riggs is an expert in content curation, social media, media arts and fake news. Her focus lies in understanding the cultural transformation that social media has spurred and analyzes how older people in the workplace deal with technology challenges.

Media Placements

The Wall Street Journal
Chicago Tribune
NPR
CNET

Expert Videos