Filippo Trevisan Associate Professor Public Communication
- Degrees
- BA International Relations, University of Trieste; MSc Political Communication, University of Glasgow; MRes Public Policy, University of Glasgow; PhD Political Communication and Public Policy, University of Glasgow.
- Bio
-
Filippo Trevisan is Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor of Public Communication at American University's School of Communication. He is also the Deputy Director of AU's Institute on Disability and Public Policy. His research examines how political organizations – parties, campaigns, advocacy organizations, and activist groups – use media to reach, activate, and organize people, especially those from traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised backgrounds. His work has focused on multiple countries including the U.S., the UK, Australia, and Italy.
He is the author (with Ariadne Vromen and Michael Vaughan) of "Story Tech: Power, Storytelling, and Social Change Advocacy" (University of Michigan Press, February 2025), which investigates how ‘hidden’ technologies (databases, algorithms, AI) influence which voices we hear (and don’t hear) in public debates in the U.S. and Australia. His first book "Disability Rights Advocacy Online: Voice, Empowerment and Global Connectivity" (Routledge, 2017) examined how new online self-advocacy networks transformed the disability rights movement in the UK and the U.S. He is also the co-editor of "The Routledge Handbook of Political Campaigning" (Routledge, November 2024), which reviews the state of the art and emerging trends in media, technology, and political campaigns.
Prior to completing his PhD at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, he was a reporter at the English desk of Italy's largest private news agency in Rome. In addition to his books, his research has been published in top communication, political science, and disability studies journals including, among others: New Media & Society; the Journal of Communication; Information, Communication and Society; the International Journal of Communication; Social Media & Society; the Journal of Information Technology and Politics; and Disability and Society. He has been interviewed, among others, by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the BBC, Al-Jazeera, Germany's DW and ZDF, Italy's Corriere della Sera and RAI - Radiotelevisione Italiana.
- See Also
- Research Gate page
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Spring 2024
-
COMM-533 Ethics in Strategic Comm
Fall 2024
-
COMM-551 Grassroots Digital Advocacy
Partnerships & Affiliations
-
Deputy Director -
Research Fellow
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Selected Publications
Books
Trevisan, F., Vaughan, M., and Vromen, A. (2025). Story Tech: Power, Storytelling, and Social Change Advocacy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press [available for pre-order, release February 2025]
Lilleker, D., Jackson, D., Kalsnes, B., Mellado, C., Trevisan, F., and Veneti, A. (2024). The Routledge Handbook of Political Campaigning. New York: Routledge [available for pre-order, release November 2024]
Trevisan, F. (2017). . New York: Routledge (Now available in paperback).
Journal articles
Trevisan, F., and Farinosi, M. (2024). "Disabled influencers on Instagram: Exploring digital celebrity and marginalized identities," Celebrity Studies, 15(2): 209-230.
Trevisan, F. (2022). "," New Media & Society, 24(2): 496-513.
Fox, J., Pearce, K. E., Massanari, A. L., Riles, J. M., Szulc, Ł., Ranjit, Y. S., Trevisan, F., Soriano, C. R. R., Vitak, J., Arora, P., Ahn, S. J., Alper, M., Gambino, A., Gonzalez, C., Lynch, T., Williamson, L. D., & Gonzales, A. L. (2021). ",&ܴdz;Journal of Communication, 71(5): 764-784.
Trevisan, F. (2021). "&ܴdz;Qualitative Research, 21(4): 619-627.
Trevisan, F. (2020). ",&ܴdz;Social Media + Society, published online before prin. [open access]
Trevisan, F., Bello, B., Vaughan, M., & Vromen, A. (2020). “,” Journal of Information Technology and Politics, 17(2): 146-160.
Trevisan, F. (2019). "," International Journal of Communication, 13: 1592-1611. [open access]
Trevisan, F. (2018) “,” Australian Journal of Political Science, 53(1): 103-115.
Trevisan, F., Hoskins, A., Oates, S., and Mahlouly, D. (2018). “,” Information, Communication & Society, 21(1): 111-128. [open access]
Trevisan, F. (2017). “” Public Relations Inquiry, 6(2): 191-208. (Click here for a pre-print version of this article: )
Pearson, C. and Trevisan, F. (2015). “,” Disability & Society, 30(6): 924-940.
Trevisan, F. (2014). “.” First Monday, 19(11). [open access]
Trevisan, F., and Reilly, P. (2014). “,” Information, Communication and Society, 17(9): 1131-1146.
Reports
Jackson, D., Coombs, D., Trevisan, F., Lilleker, D., and Thorsen, E. (2020).. Bournemouth: Center for Comparative Politics and Media Research.
Cogburn, D.L. and Trevisan, F. (2018). . Washington, D.C.: Institute on Disability and Public Policy.
Trevisan, F. (2016). “” in Jackson, D., Thorsen, E., and Wring, D. (Eds.) . Political Studies Association, Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community at Bournemouth University, Centre for Research in Communication and Culture at Loughborough University.
Media commentary
Trevisan, F. (2024). The Tories are trapped between Labour's left and Farage's right, La Razòn, July 8
Trevisan, F. (2022). , ZDF Heute, November 16
Trevisan, F. (2019). , The Washington Post, July 31
Trevisan, F. (2018). The Conversation, March 5.
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
European politics (Italy, UK), information technology and politics, search engines, grassroots advocacy and protest, disability rights.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.