Brigitte Dietz

Biography

Brigitte’s research interests touch on the intersections of health communication, social media, and identity influences on behavior and choices. She is passionate about health disparities that result in populations on identity lines, especially political identity, gender, age, and geographic location. Prior to joining the Lamb School’s PhD program, Brigitte worked for a public health policy action tank managing state level advocacy campaigns in Illinois, specifically focused on passing a Multisector Action Plan for Aging which was signed as an executive order in August 2024.

Research and Teaching

Brigitte’s research areas are health communication and media technologies, with particular focus on social media, disclosure of private information, and stigmatized identities and health statuses. Current projects include work on disclosure of personal information, the mutual influences of social media use and disclosure on each other, implications of exposure to stigmatizing/negative messaging on social media, and work with the PRIME research group. Brigitte previously acted as a TA for the sociology department at Illinois State University and has instructed COM114: Fundamentals of Speech Communication, COM314/315: Advanced Presentational Speaking, and COM378: Health Communication. She is also in her second year serving as one of the assistant directors for COM114.