Professor of Media and Communication & Strategic Communication,
Area Coordinator (Media & Communication)

Ron Becker received his Ph.D. in media and cultural studies from the University of Wisconsin in 2004. He teaches the department’s Introduction to Media course, and various classes focused on the politics of representation, media history, gender and sexuality, and critical media theory. He is the program coordinator for Comparative Media Studies and an affiliate in American Studies and Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies. His first book, Gay TV and Straight America (2006) focuses on the cultural politics and industry dynamics behind the increase of gay material on U.S. network television in the 1990s. He also co-edited Saturday Night Live and American TV (2013). His work has also appeared in The Television Studies Reader; Queer TV: Theories, Histories, Politics; The Great American Makeover: Television, History and Nation; and Television and New Media. His current project examines straight male reception of the bromance film I Love You, Man.