Stephen Farnsworth

Headshot of Professor Stephen FarnsworthProfessor and Director, Center for Leadership and Media Studies

Ph.D., Georgetown University

 Areas of Specialization:

  • American Government: The Presidency, Media and Politics, Elections

 

Scholarly Achievements:

  • Producing News in a Time of Disinformation: Information Evaluation Strategies for Journalists and News Consumers (forthcoming Spring 2023)
  • Late Night with Trump: Political Humor and the American Presidency (Routledge, 2020, co-authored)
  • Presidential Communication and Character: White House News Management from Clinton and Cable to Twitter and Trump (Routledge, 2018)
  • The Global President: International Media and the U.S. Government (Rowman & Littlefield, 2013, coauthored)
  • The Nightly News Nightmare: Media Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2008 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011, coauthored)
  • Spinner in Chief: How Presidents Sell Their Policies and Themselves (Paradigm, 2009)
  • The Mediated Presidency: Television News and Presidential Governance (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, coauthored)
  • Political Support in a Frustrated America (Praeger, 2003)
  • Dozens of scholarly articles on the presidency, the mass media, U.S. public opinion and Virginia politics in peer-reviewed journals
  • Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Warsaw, Poland. 2024
  • J. William Fulbright Faculty Specialist. Methodist College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 2019
  • Canada-U.S. Fulbright Research Chair in Public Policy, McGill University, Montreal. 2006-2007
  • Provided U.S. government-funded reporter training seminars in Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Armenia and Estonia
  • Former Chair, Political Communication Section, American Political Science Association
  • Former National President, Pi Sigma Alpha, Political Science Honor Society

Awards:

  • Recipient, Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
  • Recipient, Mary W. Pinschmidt Teaching Award
  • Recipient, Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Award
  • Recipient, the Richard Palmieri Outstanding Professor Award
  • Recipient, Waple Research Professorship

Contact Information:

To contact Professor Farnsworth, send an e-mail at: sfarnswo@umw.edu

Professor Farnsworth’s Website

Professor Farnsworth’s Twitter