Jessica Retis

Jessica Retis is a journalism professor at California State University Northridge. She earned a B.A. in Communications from Universidad de Lima, Peru; a Masters in Latin American Studies from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; and a Ph.D. in Contemporary Latin America from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.

Retis has 25 years of teaching experience in several universities in the United States, Spain and Mexico. Before becoming a college professor, she worked for almost 20 years as a journalist for various print and broadcast media outlets in her hometown Lima, Peru, while living in Mexico City, and in Madrid, Spain. In 2008 she moved to Los Angeles to work in the first interdisciplinary minor in Spanish-language journalism in the U.S. and in the masters in communications at CSUN. She has twice received the CSUN excellence in teaching award and most of her former students are now working in mainstream and Latino media newsrooms.

Her research interests include international migration; diasporas and the media; political economy of media and information; US Latino and Latin American cultural industries; Latino media in North America, Europe and Asia; and ethnic media in global cities. Her work has been published in several journals in Latin America, Europe and North America. She is the co-editor of The Handbook of Diaspora, Media and Culture (forthcoming). Among her recent publications are: Hashtag Jóvenes Latinos: Teaching Civic Advocacy Journalism in Glocal Contexts (2018), Underrepresented Majorities: Latin@s and the Media in the Digital Age (2017), The transnational restructuring of communication and consumption practices. Latinos in the urban settings of global cities (2016), Los latinos y las industrias culturales en Estados Unidos (2015), Latino Diasporas and the Media. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Understand Transnationalism and Communications in Global Cities (2014), Estudio exploratorio sobre el consumo cultural de los inmigrantes latinoamericanos en España (2011), Espacios mediáticos de la inmigración en Madrid: Génesis y evolución (2008).

Retis is an active member of academic and professional organizations. She served as Academic Officer of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) – Los Angeles Chapter (2012-14), Vice-Chair of the Diaspora & Media Working Group at the International Association of Mass Communications Research (2011-14), Secretary of the Unión Latina de Economía Política de la Información, la Comunicación y la Cultura (ULEPICC) (2013-15), and Resident Director of the CSU International Programs in Spain (2014-15).