Dr. Elizabeth Hatfield
Dr. Elizabeth Hatfield
Associate Professor of Communication StudiesArts and CommunicationBiography
Elizabeth Fish Hatfield serves the Department of Arts and Humanities at University of Houston-Downtown as an Associate Professor of Interpersonal Communication. She joined UHD after completing her Ph.D. at Texas A&M University in 2011. Prior to that, Dr. Hatfield completed her M.A. at Fordham University and B.S. at Georgetown University. Dr. Hatfield is the faculty advisor for the communication honor society, Lambda Pi Eta, at UHD. www.elizabethhatfieldphd.com
Dr. Hatfield maintains an active research agenda focused on family, gender and culture in the mass media. In particular, she considers how mediated parenting messages impact the lived experience of parents, including issues such as work/life balance and gender roles.
Degrees Earned
Georgetown University, B.S. (Marketing & Human Resources Major/Psychology Minor)
Fordham University, M.A. (Telecommunications and Media Studies)
Texas A&M University, Ph.D. {Member, The Honors Society of Phi Kappa Phi} (Communication)
Courses Taught
COMM 3308 Family Communication
COMM 3310 Women, Men, and Communication
COMM 3328 Communication and Intimacy
Experience Qualifications
Dr. Hatfield has a Ph.D. in Communication and maintains an active research agenda focused on family, gender and culture in the mass media. In particular, she considers how mediated parenting messages impact the lived experience of parents, including issues such as work/life balance and gender roles. Her dissertation addressed how celebrity media shapes the experience of pregnancy and parenthood for audience members including issues of identity, body image, and social comparison. During graduate school, Dr. Hatfield's coursework also prepared her to teach a wide variety of courses in Interpersonal Communication (COMM 1306, 2307, 2309, 3308, 3310, 3316, 3320, 3328, 3330), Media Studies (COMM 1302, 3305, 3311, 3317, 4325) and Communication Methods (COMM 3314, 3320, 3325). Her continued work in family communication and relational communication also supports her qualifications to teach such a wide variety of courses.
Elected Leadership Roles
Secretary, Communication Assessment Division, National Communication Association
Advisory Board Member, Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honor Society, National Communication Association
Honors and Awards
National/Regional
Top Panel, Organizational and Professional Communication Interest Group, Central States Communication Association, 2020.
National Communication Association Lambda Pi Eta Rookie Advisor of the Year, 2016.
Top Paper, Gender Studies Division, Southern States Communication Association, 2010.
Central States Communication Association Young Scholars Master Class, 2008.
University Level
UHD CTLE Faculty Teaching Fellow, 2020-2021 ($5000).
UHD CTLE Faculty Teaching Fellow, 2019-2020 ($5000).
UHD Faculty Development Grant, 2019 ($1600).
UHD Excellence in Teaching Award Winner, 2018.
UHD Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence High Impact Learning Grant, 2017-2018, ($2200).
UHD Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence New Faculty Learning Communities Mentor, 2017-2018.
UHD Senior Survey Most Significant Person Recipient, 2016.
UHD Faculty Mentor, 2016-2018 ($2000).
UHD Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence Faculty Teaching Fellow, 2016-2018 ($10,000).
UHD Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence Tablet Pilot Project Member, 2016-2018 ($1,000).
UHD Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence Teaching Circle Leader, 2015-2016 ($1000).
UHD Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence Teaching Circle Member, 2014-2015, 2017-2018 ($1000).
Texas A&M University Comm. Department. Grant in Support of Dissertation Project, 2011.
Texas A&M University Graduate Student Council Travel Awards Competition ($500), 2009.
Glasscock Center for Humanities Research Graduate Travel to Conference Award ($300), 2008.
Fordham University Graduate Assistantship (Merit-based; Full tuition and stipend), 2002-2003.
More Information
Academic Books
Hatfield, E.F. (2017). Communication and the Work-Life Balancing Act: Intersections Across Identities, Genders, and Cultures. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Academic Research Articles
Hatfield, E.F. (2020). Opting Out or Pushed Out? Making Sense of Television Mothers' Decisions About Work. Media Report to Women, 48(4), p. 6-11, 20-21.Hatfield, E.F. (2019). Soft masculinity as the new norm: An examination of gender in Paddington 2. Journal of Communications Media Studies, 19(11), p. 59-75.
Hatfield, E.F. (2018). [Invited Article] eTools: Using webs.com in the Classroom. National Communication Association. Available online at: https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/pages/eTools_Using_Webs-com_in_the_Classroom_June_2018.pdf. (pdf)
Hatfield, E.F. (2018). Fatherhood stereotypes and cultural expectations: Examining modern fatherhood through coverage of the Women's March. The Florida Communication Journal, 46(1).
Hatfield, E.F. (2017). Narrative learning using podcasts in interpersonal communication. Communication Teacher, DOI: 10.1080/17404622.2017.1372790.
Hatfield, E. (2016). Lessons from celebrity parents: Unintended audience learning from celebrity news stories. Media Report to Women, 44(2).
Hatfield, E. (2010). What it means to be a man": Examining hegemonic masculinity in Two and a Half Men. Communication, Culture & Critique, 3, p. 526-548.
Hatfield, E. (2009). Protecting 'signal bleed' as freedom of speech: An analysis of United States et al v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc. Communication Law Review, 9(2), p. 46-62.
Book Chapters
Hatfield E.F. (2021). Grandparent-grandchild communication during the transition to personal media. In C. Liberman & K. Wright (Eds.) Casing media communication. Dubuque: IA: Kendall Hunt.
Hatfield, E. (2018). Celebrity parents' experiences with work-life balance. In K. Vaidya (Ed.) Celebrity for the curious: Why study celebrity, music, and film studies? Queensland, AU: The Curious Academic Publishing.
Hatfield, E.F. (2017). Critical Skills: Interviewing. In G. Golson (Ed.) Research Starters. Ipswich, MA: EBSCO.
Hatfield, E.F. (2017). 'There's a thousand things I do around here': Examining mothers' roles in the gendered division of labor on sitcoms. In E. Hatfield (Ed.) Communication and the Work-Life Balancing Act: Intersections Across Identities, Genders, and Cultures. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hatfield, E.F. and Hampsten, K. (2017). Tracing the daddy wars: The emergence of dad culture and the prioritization of work-life balance. In E. Hatfield (Ed.) Communication and the work-life balancing act: Intersections across identities, genders, and cultures. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hatfield, E.F. (2016). The Influence of Celebrity Persona on Audience Member's Consumption Practices as Parents. In S. Nandy and J. Raphael (Eds.) Building bridges in celebrity studies. Kingston: Waterhill Publishing.
Hatfield, E.F. (2015). Motherhood and mental health: Exploring Carrie Mathison's Homeland Pregnancy. In S. Hayden and H. Huntley (Eds.), Mediated Moms: Contemporary Challenges to the Motherhood Myth. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Hatfield, E.F. (2014). Valuing family, valuing work: A comparison of 'balance' discourse targeting mothers and fathers. In A. Martinez and L. Miller (Eds.), Gender in a Transitional Era: Changes and Challenges. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Hatfield, E.F. (2018). (Not) getting paid to do what you love (B.E. Duffy). Critical Studies in Media Communication, 35(3), 315-317.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2018.1433310
Hatfield, E.F. (2017). Sylvia Plath and the language of affective states (Z. Demjen). Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 36(4), 494-499. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0261927X17706133
Hatfield, E.F. "Negotiating 'family first' as a gendered concept." [Winner Top Panel Award]. Central States Communication Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. April 14-19, 2020.
Hatfield, E.F. "The back-to-work decision making process: How sitcom moms frame the experience." National Communication Association 105th Annual Convention. Baltimore, MD, November 14-17, 2019.
Hatfield, E.F. "Using Broadway musicals as a high impact learning experience." Popular Culture Association Annual 2019 Conference. Washington, DC, April 17-20, 2019.
Hampsten, K. and Hatfield, E.F. "Fonda, Ginsburg, and Williams: Depictions of the anti-supermom in popular culture." Popular Culture Association Annual 2019 Conference. Washington, DC, April 17-20, 2019.
Hatfield, E.F. "Plenary speaker: Analyzing gender in the movie Bad Moms." Texas A & M University's Communicating Diversity Conference, College Station, TX, March 28-29, 2019.
Hatfield, E.F. "Soft masculinity as the new norm: Upending hegemonic notions as typical in Paddington 2." National Communication Association 104th Annual Convention. Salt Lake City, Utah, November 8-11, 2018.
Hatfield, E.F. "'Time to change that conversation': Celebrity cultural criticism, gender roles, and work-life balance in popular media." Central States Communication Association's 2018 Annual Conference. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 4-7, 2018.
Hatfield, E.F. "Work-life balance as a celebrity issue: Exploring the gendered and classed nature of popular press coverage." National Communication Association's 103rd Annual Convention. Dallas, Texas, November 17-19, 2017.
Hatfield, E.F. "Montclair and the Women's March: Examining the media impact of Bondy's New York Times Article." Center for Media Studies and Celebrity 5th International Conference, New York, NY, August 31 - September 1, 2017.
Hatfield, E.F. "Gender roles in interpersonal communication: Exploring stages of relationships with Modern Romance." Eastern Communication Association 108th Annual Convention, Boston, MA, March 29th - April 2nd, 2017.
Hatfield, E.F. "Communicating work/life challenges within the family." Work Family Researchers Network 2016 Conference. Washington, DC, June 23-25, 2016.
Hatfield, E.F. "Implementing high impact practices through core curriculum, teaching circles, and innovative assignments." Southern States Communication Association's 16th Annual Convention, Austin, TX, April 6-10, 2016.
Hatfield, E.F. "Picturing celebrity parenthood: A semiotic analysis of gendered parenting in People Magazine." National Communication Association's 96th Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA, November 14-17, 2010.
Hatfield, E.F. "Valuing work, valuing family: A comparison of 'balance' discourse targeting mothers and fathers." National Communication Association's 96th Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA, November 14-17, 2010.
Hatfield, E.F. "More than moms: Assessing celebrity magazines' coverage of parenthood." Southern States Communication Association Annual Conference, Memphis, TN, April 7-11, 2010 [TOP STUDENT PAPER - Gender Studies Division].
Hatfield, E.F. "Women's positive experiences using dating websites: Cultural influences, community and empowerment online." Southern States Communication Association Annual Convention, Memphis, TN, April 7-11, 2010.
Hatfield, E.F. "Framing the Olympic opening ceremony: NBC's use of selectivity, partiality, and structure in presenting the Beijing Olympics." National Communication Association 95th Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, November 12-15, 2009.
Hatfield, E.F. "What it is to be a man: A narrative analysis of masculinity in Two and a Half Men." National Communication Association 95th Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, November 12-15, 2009.
Hatfield, E.F. "Facebook as speech code: Considering its application in the college classroom." National Communication Association 94th Annual Convention, San Diego, CA, November 21-24, 2008.
Hatfield, E.F. "Protecting America's indecent speech: An analysis of United States et al v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc." Midwestern Popular Culture Association Annual Conference, Cincinnati, OH, October 3-5, 2008.
Fish, E. "Revenue all-stars: The corporate takeover of the modern stadium." Media Ecology Association Fourth Annual Conference, Hofstra University, June 6-8, 2003.