The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication Welcomes Two New Postdoctoral Fellows

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania is thrilled to announce that Carlos Dávalos and Pratiksha Thangam Menon will join the center as postdoctoral fellows this fall.

"Carlos and Pratiksha represent the very best of the next generation of global media studies scholarship. Their groundbreaking work on transnational media flows, alternative histories, and digital cultures cuts to the heart of our mission here at Annenberg, and their presence will further enrich our vibrant research community," says CARGC Director Aswin Punathambekar.

"In addition to their outstanding research, Carlos and Patriksha have a wealth of experience working across media industries in Mexico and India," adds CARGC Associate Director, Juan Llamas-Rodriguez. "I am certain their insights and contributions will strengthen the Center’s ongoing intellectual conversations about the changing landscapes of media production and distribution around the world.”

Carlos Dávalos

Carlos Dávalos is a journalist, media historian, and communication scholar from Mexico City whose research examines identity formation at the intersection of media, technology, popular culture, and transnational communication. His work explores how local communities negotiate global media influences and how cultural intermediaries shape the production of meaning across borders.

Dávalos completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where his dissertation examined the role of alternative FM radio in Mexico City during the 1990s. The project analyzes how alternative FM radio stations helped listeners build individual and collective identities as they navigated the political, cultural, and economic transformations of the "transnational nineties." The project also analyzes the influence of U.S. broadcasting models on Mexican media development. Through UW–Madison's LACIS program, he also coordinated Gente de la Tierra, an environmental storytelling initiative connecting participants across Latin America. Before entering academia, Dávalos spent nearly two decades working in journalism, music, and media production in Mexico and the United States. 

At CARGC, Dávalos will transform his dissertation into a book examining the history of alternative FM radio in Mexico City and the role of broadcasters as cultural intermediaries within asymmetrical transnational media relationships. 

“Beyond my individual research agenda, I am eager to contribute to CARGC's ongoing research initiatives and collaborative activities, bringing my experience in media history, public scholarship, and transnational communication to the center's work," says Dávalos.

Pratiksha Thangam Menon

Pratiksha Thangam Menon is a media studies and digital humanities scholar whose work engages popular culture through a postcolonial perspective. She earned her Ph.D. in Communication and Media from the University of Michigan, with a specialization in Digital Studies. Her dissertation, "Laughter is the Best Poison", received the 2025 Best Dissertation Award from the Global Communication and Social Change Division of the International Communication Association (ICA). Prior to academia, she worked in the media industry in Mumbai, India.

At CARGC, she will undertake two projects. She will be working on developing a public history initiative "India Online: A Global Public History of India’s Communication & Media Revolution." The second is a book project tentatively titled "Righteous Schadenfreude: How Humor Mainstreams The Extreme," which builds on her dissertation research where she conceptualizes the online circulation of antagonistic humor as a mediated practice that leverages the affordances of social media platforms to spread supremacist ideas globally. Her project demonstrates how discriminatory humor normalizes supremacist thought by reshaping popular memory, reconciling the contradictions between neoliberalism and nationalism, and circumventing regulatory safeguards.

“I'm delighted to be part of CARGC's interdisciplinary research community,” says Menon. “As someone who sees herself as a bridge between academic scholarship and public conversation, I am especially excited to create accessible, engaging narratives about both the specific contours of India's digital culture as well as the contributions of Indian-origin practitioners in shaping the global internet landscape.”