MARIAH L. WELLMAN
Mariah (she/her) is an expert, educator, and advocate researching social media influencers and the wellness industry. She is an assistant professor in the College of Communication at Michigan State University.
Mariah is currently writing a book with the University of California Press titled "In Search of Wellness: Social media influencers and the transformation of an industry." She has ongoing projects exploring the intersections of wellness and politics, dissecting conceptualizations of authority and expertise in the influencer industry, and interviewing breast cancer "previvors" - women who are genetically predisposed to breast cancer - about how they use social media platforms to build community and share health information. She has published work in New Media & Society, Social Media + Society, Health Communication, Journal of Media Ethics, Rhetoric of Health & Medicine, and Feminist Media Studies.
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Mariah has taught over a dozen undergraduate and graduate courses in communication & media, strategic communication & ADPR, and health & wellness communication. She has designed and implemented three undergraduate courses on wellness & technology, digital influencers, and journalism ethics.
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Mariah completed her Ph.D. in Communication at the University of Utah. She holds an M.A. in Mass Communication from the University of Iowa and a B.S. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Greenlee School of Journalism at Iowa State University. Mariah resides in Michigan with her wife and two rescue dogs .