William Youmans
Assistant Professor of Media and Public Affairs

Phone – (202) 994-6353
Fax – (202) 994-5806
E-mail – wyoumans@gwu.edu
Office – MPA 444

Expertise

Media law; global news; international broadcasting; social movements; Middle Eastern politics and society; Arab-American studies.

Education

Ph.D., Communications Studies, University of Michigan, 2012
J.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2003
B.A., Political Science, University of Michigan, 2000 

Courses Taught

SMPA 2173, Media Law

Background

William Youmans is an Assistant Professor at the School of Media and Public Affairs.  Broadly interested in questions of transnationalism and news media in conflict, his primary research interests include global news media, journalism, media law, and social movements.  Other areas of interest include contemporary American public diplomacy and international broadcasting.

Youmans wrote his dissertation on Al Jazeera English's audience-building efforts in the United States before and after the "Arab Spring." He is currently researching the development of Arab media law as well as the role of transnational media in US-Arab relations.

Youmans has presented at numerous conferences, including the annual gatherings of the Middle East Studies Association, the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, the International Studies Association, and the American Sociological Association.

Find him on Twitter @wyoumans.
Visit his Web site at http://www.williamlafiyoumans.com

Selected Works

Book Chapters:
“Al Jazeera English after the Arab Spring: The Changing Politics of Distribution in the United States.” Al Jazeera English (2012) Seib, Philip (ed.) New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

“Domestic Foreign Policy: Arab Detroit as an Important Place in the War on Terror.” Abraham, Nabeel, Andrew Shryock and Sally Howell (eds.) Arab Detroit 9/11: The Terror Decade (2011) Detroit: Wayne State University Press.


Journal Articles:
“Remote Negotiations: International Broadcasting as Bargaining in the Information Age.” Co-authored with Shawn Powers. International Journal of Intercultural Communication (2012), 2149-2172.

“Intermedia Framing and Intercultural Communication: How Other Media Affect American Antipathy Toward Al Jazeera English.” Co-authored with Katie Brown.  Journal of Intercultural Communication Research (2012), 41(2), 173-191.

“A New Purpose for International Broadcasting: Subsidizing Deliberative Technologies in Non-transitioning States.” Co-authored with Shawn Powers. Journal of Public Deliberation (2012), 8(1), Article 13.


“Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements.” Co-authored with Jillian York. Journal of Communication (2012), (62) 2, 315-329.

“The Debate over Al Jazeera, English in Burlington, VT.” Arab Media & Society (2011), Issue 13, Summer.

“Can Al Jazeera English Leverage its 'Egypt Moment' into an American Audience?” Co-authored with Katie Brown. Arab Media & Society (2011), Issue 12, Spring.

“The War on Ideas: Alhurra and US International Broadcasting Law in the ‘War on Terror.’” Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture (2009), Vol. 6, No. 1. pp. 45-68.

“Humor Against Hegemony: Al-Hurra, Jokes, and the Limits of American Soft Power.” Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication (2009), Vol. 2, No. 1. pp. 76-99.