Bridging Feminist Theory, Media Ethics and Queer Justice in Higher Education

Dr. Leandra Hinojosa Hernández is rewriting the rulebook on media ethics, mentorship and the intersection of queer, feminist and reproductive justice, proving that for scholars like her, the personal is always political and the classroom is just the beginning.

Hernández is an assistant professor at the University of Utah, a scholar in queer, feminist health and media studies and has co-authored and written multiple books.

“We either go into these areas of study because we are survivors of violence ourselves or we have been subjected to some sort of injustice or violence along the way.”

Hernández’s first book analyzed news framing of reproductive violence from 2016-18. Since then, her work has evolved. “One of the famous feminist sayings is that ‘the personal is political’ and I think for a lot of us who do this kind of work, it is,” she says. “We either go into these areas of study because we are survivors of violence ourselves or we have been subjected to some sort of injustice or violence along the way.”

Her upcoming book, Queer Women of Color and Critical Approaches to Feminist Mentorship and Pedagogy, will be out by late summer and focuses on queer and women of color and feminist approaches to mentorship and higher education. “We look at some of the bright spots of mentorship. We talk about what happens when mentorship goes wrong. The book features work not just by academics who are more advanced, but also by undergraduate and graduate students, too,” she says. “It’s a really beautiful way to honor not just the mentors who came before us, but also to pay it forward and to think about how we can best support our upcoming generation of practitioners, activists and scholars.” It’s a two-part project and the first book is titled Feminist Mentoring in Academia. Published in 2023, it looks at feminist approaches to mentorship more broadly.

“Intersectional journalism is everything.”

After studying radio, TV and film as an undergrad, Hernández attended graduate school for journalism and media, where she studied feminist theory, reproductive justice and gendered violence. “Having dealt with various instances of violence when I was younger, as I got older I realized that those were not only connected issues of injustice, but also things that you could study and teach about and try to change [in] higher education,” Hernández says.

Hernández recalls a critical moment when she was teaching media ethics. At the time, the University of Utah was seeing student-led Pro-Palestinian protests on campus, as well as other significant issues. Some of her students, who were working at The Daily Utah Chronicle campus newspaper, were assigned to cover these stories, including those involving anti-trans speakers.

“Intersectional journalism is everything,” she says. “It’s how we tell students it’s not just about going out there and interacting with communities and telling stories. It’s doing it in ways that are equitable, that uplift community voices, that think not just about a singular experience, but how all of our identities are at the table.”

“The personal is political, whether you’re researching gendered violence, teaching about it or working in community spaces where you’re trying to combat it.”

In her classes, she teaches her students to explore how historical and contemporary news values have evolved, including the perspectives of philosophers on truth, objectivity and how these ideas apply to modern issues like artificial intelligence. She also teaches how objectivity plays a role in reporting on sensitive topics like gendered violence, crisis and conflict.

She feels that it’s especially important right now to focus on creating meaningful conversations and coalitions, particularly in showing up for queer communities, communities of color and migrant communities. Moving forward, she is thinking about how to continue building on this work and tackle new projects that deepen those connections and provide more support for marginalized communities. “In the discipline of communication, we have incredible queer theorists. We have incredible queer — and I use the term broadly, myself included — communities and spaces,” Hernández says.

“The personal is political,” she emphasizes again. “Whether you’re researching gendered violence, teaching about it or working in community spaces where you’re trying to combat it. And I think that’s also what helps keep me grounded when life gets crazy.”

Keep up with Hernández’s work and upcoming book release at her online faculty profile on the University of Utah’s website.

Read about more stories about local educators here:
“An Irreplaceable Refuge for All of Us”: Nan Seymour on the Great Salt Lake
Friends, Allies, and Mentors: Creating LGBTQ+ Inclusive Schools