As an elementary school teacher turned tenure-track Assistant Professor of Media Science at Boston University College of Communication, Dr. AnneMarie McClain (she/her) focuses her work on finding ways to use and design media to promote positive outcomes among marginalized youth and their families.

In addition to having won the 2024 and 2026 Top Faculty-Led Paper Awards in the Children, Adolescents, and Media Division of the International Communication Association for her academic scholarship, AnneMarie has been an educational consultant with GBH KIDS, advising on several PBS KIDS educational games and Seasons 2 and 3 of the PBS KIDS preschool TV series, Work It Out Wombats! She has co-authored 20 kids’ books for the Topics to Talk About and Loved Ones With series from Cherry Lake Press around social identities and various childhood experiences. At Boston University, she teaches courses about children and media, media uses and effects, and research methods and statistics. 

From her various teaching and research roles over the years at Boston University, Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Williams College – as well as her earliest career days as a teacher in New York City and rural Costa Rica – AnneMarie has a wealth of experience and knowledge around children’s digital well-being and how families can leverage media for good.

AnneMarie holds a PhD in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.A in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an M.S. in Childhood Education from CUNY Hunter College.