Dr. Caroline Jack

Biography

Caroline Jack is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at UC San Diego. Her research interests include media history, business history, the history of media technologies, critical studies of advertising, corporate communication, and promotional culture. At UCSD, she teaches undergraduate courses that emphasize the significance of advertising, persuasion, and promotional communication in social contexts. Additionally, she conducts graduate seminars that critique and analyze the cultural aspects of communication and promotional culture. Caroline's upcoming book, "Business Usual: Sponsored Media Sold American Capitalism Twentieth Century," will be published by the University of Chicago Press in October 2024. This work explores how American capitalism has promoted ephemeral materials such as public service announcements and educational films, collectively termed 'sponsored economic education media.' These items, financed by corporations and trade groups, aimed to 'sell America to Americans' and infiltrated communities, classrooms, and media, promoting ideals cloaked in civic education. The rhetoric surrounding these practices remains influential today, complicating public understandings of corporate responsibility and the common good. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in Communication from Cornell University and an M.A. in Communication and M.B.A. from Saint Louis University.

Research Interests