Dr. Mark R. Barner

Biography

Mark Barner, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Communication and Media Studies Department at  Niagara University. He earned his bachelor of arts in Journalism from Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and his master of science degree in Communication from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Ohio University in 1995.

Dr. Barner teaches classes including Media Writing, Video Production, Film & Culture, Introduction to Digital Media Production, and Senior Seminar in Mass Communication. He is the faculty moderator for The Ridge Report, a student-run video production club.

Dr. Barner’s interests include research on children’s educational television, science fiction and horror cinema, and short video documentary production.  He won a Video Production Grant from the Niagara Arts Council to document the efforts of Western New York women in the defense industries during World War II. Production Soldiers:  Western New York’s Working Women of WWII, the resulting video documentary, pays tribute to the 18 million women who entered the work force at home during WWII.  By 1943, the number of women employed in Western New York defense industries almost doubled from its pre-war figure. Women played a vital role in producing aircraft, parachutes, engines, machine guns and many other war-related supplies. Decades before the so-called women’s liberation movement, these women were breaking gender-based boundaries and gaining a foothold in male-dominated professions.

Dr. Barner has published articles in the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, and Communication Research Reports; and a chapter in the text, Educational and Psychological Research.

Past Research

• Barner, M. R. (2002). Gender stereotyping and intended audience age. In M. L. Patten (Ed.), Educational and psychological research (pp. 66-72). Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing. Barner, M. R. (Fall, 1999). Sex-role stereotyping in FCC-mandated children’s educational television. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 43(4), 551-564.
• Barner, M. R. (Spring, 1999). Gender stereotyping and intended audience age: An analysis of children’s educational/informational TV programming. Communication Research Reports, 16(2), 193-202.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Mass Communication, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio (1995). Emphases in critical/cultural studies and media criticism. Dissertation Topic: An Ethnographic Study of Videotape Renting in the Family System.
• M.S., Communication, Clarion University of Pennsylvania (1992). Emphases in training and development, instructional design, and media production.
• B.A., Journalism, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania (1989). Emphasis in Broadcast Journalism.