Stevie N. Berberick (they/them/theirs) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Gender and Women's Studies at Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA. Stevie earned their Ph.D. in Communications from Pennsylvania State University where they were awarded the Don Davis Award for Ethical Leadership and the Harold F. Martin Oustanding Graduate Teaching Award. Stevie's M.A. in American Studies was earned from the University at Buffalo (SUNY), where they held a distinguished Arthur A. Schomburg Fellowship.
Stevie's first monograph, Reframing Sex: Unlearning the Gender Binary with Trans Masculine YouTube Vloggers, was released in November of 2020 through Lexington Books. The book is an exploration of both mainstream and independent media. Grounded in qualitative methods, Reframing Sex explores three trans masculine run YouTube channels through virtual ethnography and places the content of these channels in conversation with corporate streaming productions: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Orange is the New Black, and Transparent. The comparative study of these productions illuminates how even the most progressive of popular culture artifacts fail to present multi-dimensional trans narratives, thereby intensifying stigma and shame for those outside of the gender binary. In contrast, trans masculine produced YouTube vlogs discussed in this book help audience members to unlearn the simplification of sexual identity.
Stevie has also published in Journal of Media Critiques, The New York Sociologist, Lateral and Feminist Media Studies and as a co-author in International Journal of Communications and tripleC: Communication, Capitalism, & Critique. Their research has been presented at national and international conferences, including the National Communication Association, Union for Democratic Communications, the International Communications Association, The Popular Culture Association, and the New York State Sociological Association annual conferences. They were also a keynote speaker at the Feminist Research Alliance Workshop at the University at Buffalo. Stevie is also a trained journalist with a love for investigative work.
Stevie earned their doctorate in 2017, following a successful defense of their dissertation that centered trans identities and comparative media studies. Their M.A. thesis, which centered ostensibly on the experiences and representations of hyper-visibly tattooed White women, attempted to define “whiteness” and white femininity through analyzing how such concepts seek to fetishize and/or criminalize racial siblings who defy normative ideologies. Going forward, Stevie plans to continue their work with subcultures, in particular focusing on mainstream recuperation and the resulting acceptance of, or resistance to, popular mediations of their cultures. They are especially interested in gender, the body, identity politics and uses of technology within relationship building between self and others. Additionally, Stevie has begun work on outlining pieces for transformative pedagogical practices.
When not buried in teaching, research, and writing Stevie finds great solace in dancing rhythmlessly around their home. Their favorite activities include long conversations over copious amounts of coffee, interrupting popular entertainment by shouting at the television screen, romancing the record player, and absorbing vast amounts of live music. Stevie lives with their two furry friends: Ivy the dog and Hallelujah (Halle) the cat.
Stevie's first monograph, Reframing Sex: Unlearning the Gender Binary with Trans Masculine YouTube Vloggers, was released in November of 2020 through Lexington Books. The book is an exploration of both mainstream and independent media. Grounded in qualitative methods, Reframing Sex explores three trans masculine run YouTube channels through virtual ethnography and places the content of these channels in conversation with corporate streaming productions: The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Orange is the New Black, and Transparent. The comparative study of these productions illuminates how even the most progressive of popular culture artifacts fail to present multi-dimensional trans narratives, thereby intensifying stigma and shame for those outside of the gender binary. In contrast, trans masculine produced YouTube vlogs discussed in this book help audience members to unlearn the simplification of sexual identity.
Stevie has also published in Journal of Media Critiques, The New York Sociologist, Lateral and Feminist Media Studies and as a co-author in International Journal of Communications and tripleC: Communication, Capitalism, & Critique. Their research has been presented at national and international conferences, including the National Communication Association, Union for Democratic Communications, the International Communications Association, The Popular Culture Association, and the New York State Sociological Association annual conferences. They were also a keynote speaker at the Feminist Research Alliance Workshop at the University at Buffalo. Stevie is also a trained journalist with a love for investigative work.
Stevie earned their doctorate in 2017, following a successful defense of their dissertation that centered trans identities and comparative media studies. Their M.A. thesis, which centered ostensibly on the experiences and representations of hyper-visibly tattooed White women, attempted to define “whiteness” and white femininity through analyzing how such concepts seek to fetishize and/or criminalize racial siblings who defy normative ideologies. Going forward, Stevie plans to continue their work with subcultures, in particular focusing on mainstream recuperation and the resulting acceptance of, or resistance to, popular mediations of their cultures. They are especially interested in gender, the body, identity politics and uses of technology within relationship building between self and others. Additionally, Stevie has begun work on outlining pieces for transformative pedagogical practices.
When not buried in teaching, research, and writing Stevie finds great solace in dancing rhythmlessly around their home. Their favorite activities include long conversations over copious amounts of coffee, interrupting popular entertainment by shouting at the television screen, romancing the record player, and absorbing vast amounts of live music. Stevie lives with their two furry friends: Ivy the dog and Hallelujah (Halle) the cat.
