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Rebecca Ortiz

Dr. Rebecca Ortiz

Assistant Professor
Department of Advertising

About Me

I have lived all over the East Coast (from New York to Florida), but this is my first time living in the Southwest. I love new experiences and am enjoying immersing myself in West Texas culture. A big piece of my heart is back in North Carolina where the love of my life resides, but we’re working on getting him out here as soon as possible.

Research Specialty

My research is focused in the areas of health communication, social marketing, entertainment media effects, and representations of sexuality in the media. I am particularly focused on adolescent and young adult populations and sexual health issues.

Main Methodological Approaches

Experimental
Mixed Methods

Education

Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduate Certificate, Interdisciplinary Health Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.A., Media Studies, Syracuse University
B.S., Advertising, Virginia Commonwealth University

Experience

My professional background is in advertising, marketing, and journalism, having worked for a community newspaper, a large advertising agency, and a mid-size direct marketing firm. I have also managed and/or consulted a number of health communication campaigns and projects with such organizations as the North Carolina Division of Public Health and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, among others.

Publications in Last 5 Years

Brown, J.D., Zhao, X., Wang, M.N., Liu, Q., Lu, A.S., Li, L., Ortiz, R., Liao, S., & Zhang. G. (forthcoming). “Love is all you need:” A content analysis of romantic love and sex in Chinese entertainment television. Asian Journal of Communication.

Cates, J., Ortiz, R. R., Shafer, A., Romocki, L., & Coyne-Beasley, T. (2012). HPV vaccine for males: Designing messages to motivate parents to vaccinate their pre-teen sons. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 44(1), 39-47.

Ortiz, R. (2011). Free speech is in the eye of the beholder: Use of demonstrative evidence to delineate community standards in obscenity cases. Free Speech Yearbook, 45, 57-66.