Sam Mendez is a Ph.D. candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They have a master’s in media studies and a background in animation. Their dissertation is bridging natural language processing methods with media studies theory to expand the scope of health literacy research to better suit social media. Through this fellowship, Sam hopes to use examples from media, technology, and the arts to imagine the future of health communication. Their goal is to help advance health equity through more rigorous communication research and more equitable communication.
“Party’s Over” is a blog and video series that asks: what do we do now? With issues of trust and misinformation more prominent than ever, it’s clear we need to rethink health communication. In this series, we’ll look at real examples of online communities, community-based methods, and innovative use of technology to imagine what that might mean.
Sam’s “Party’s Over” series uses animation to and pop culture to draw valuable lessons for health communication in the pandemic era.
Sam’s blog posts focus on health communication, media, technology, and arts. Read the posts from their “Party’s Over” series for the 2023 BCPH Thought Leadership for Public Health Fellowship below.
Public health institutions treat health literacy like a set of skills. But a community-centered approach can help us build long-term resilience and advance health equity.
Artists have a lot to teach public health professionals about the transformative power of arts beyond acting as a hook for health communication.
Communication is more than information. “Ritual” communication focuses on relationships and feelings. This might be just what health communication needs in the pandemic era.
Knowledge communities contrast with expert models of communication. Open, non-hierarchical, and fun, this might just be what public health needs in the social media era.
Health Communication comes with risks of online harassment. Learn how you can manage them with help from Rebecca Black’s story.
You can find Samuel talking about health communication, health literacy, and video games: @samuelanimates on BlueSky, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, Tiktok, Instagram, and on the scicomm.xyz Mastodon server.
The mission of the Boston Congress of Public Health Thought Leadership for Public Health Fellowship (BCPH Fellowship) seeks to:
It is guided by an overall vision to provide a platform, training, and support network for the next generation of public health thought leaders and public scholars to explore and grow their voice.
