Zari A. Taylor is a critical cultural studies scholar interested in the interplay of digital and popular culture. Specifically, she explores the relationship between race, beauty, social/ traditional media, celebrity culture, and the creator economy.
Dr. Taylor has published numerous academic and public-facing work on how digital and popular culture increasingly reflect dynamics of power, identity, politics, and value within society, as well as how marginalized groups operate within and against historical and ongoing oppressions in these contexts. She is currently a Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor at New York University affiliated with the Center for Faculty Advancement (CFA) and Alliance for Public Interest Technology (NYUA-PIT). She completed her doctoral degree in media and cultural studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Department of Communication in May 2024.
Dr. Taylor’s research has been published in Social Media + Society, Information, Communication & Society and the International Journal of Communication. Her writing can be found in The Daily Tar Heel, Medium, Flow Journal, The Fashion and Race Database, and Inside Higher Education. Dr. Taylor is a core member of the Content Creator Scholar Network (CCSN) and a Global Member of the TikTok Cultures Research Network (TCRN).