Dr. Keiko McCullough

What kind of research does Dr. McCullough do? 

• In Dr. McCullough's substantive research, they have sought to blend critical theories, media studies, and psychology to critically examine media texts and their psychological effects. Their quantitative research explores the relationships between media consumption and psychological and mental health outcomes among marginalized groups. Qualitatively, they examine how psychological constructs such as identities, attitudes, and ideologies are constructed in and through media texts. As principal investigator, and as a co-author, Dr. McCullough often publishes within Asian American psychology and gender studies (e.g., men and masculinities).

• In Dr. McCullough's methodological work, they largely focus on critical discursive psychology as theory and method alongside visual methods. These writings provide guidance on how to use visual and verbal data to study constructs like gender, race, and identity.

• Get to know Dr. McCullough via their recent podcast episode! They discuss their research, professional journey, and advice for graduate students.

Past and current projects include:

• Examining how masculinities are visually constructed on Instagram using a Critical Discursive Psychology approach (past)

• Investigating the relationships between video game play, internalized misogyny, and feminist identity among women who play videogames (past)

• Exploring the connections between watching Asian American YouTubers, racial identity, and self-esteem among Asian Americans (past)

• Utilizing Item Response Theory (IRT) to examine the item functioning of Singelis’ Self-Construal Scale among Asian Americans (past)

• A methodological piece on integrating visual methods into the field of Critical Discursive Psychology (past)

• Analyzing hegemonic gender depictions in the period romance film genre using Far From the Madding Crowd as a representative example (in progress)

• A methodological piece on applying Critical Discursive Psychology to the study of visual displays of gender (past)

• What happens when racism goes viral: Assessing media exposure to violent racism and vicarious trauma among affected communities (in progress)

• An overarching, conceptual piece on integrating critical methods, psychology, and media studies (in progress)

What would I be doing in their lab?

• To ensure that students have the opportunity to be highly involved in multiple research projects, and to focus on providing quality mentorship, Dr. McCullough keeps their lab fairly small. 

• Lab members are expected to contribute to the lab for at least 1 full academic year, attend all lab meetings (held as needed, ranging from weekly to monthly), and independently complete assigned research tasks. 

• You may be a good fit for Dr. McCullough’s lab if: 

  • You have unique ideas to contribute in relation to critical methods, media studies, psychology, and their intersections

  • You’re interested in critical methodologies and/or visual research methods (both quantitative and qualitative)

  • You’re interested in an academic research career/have a strong and genuine interest in research

  • You’re interested in assisting with research projects at all phases of the research process (e.g., from literature review to manuscript writing)

  • You enjoy collaborating with others and are open to sharing and receiving feedback

  • You’re responsive to email, timely, and organized

• Students in Dr. McCullough’s lab will engage in the following activities depending upon the needs of specific projects: complete IRB submissions, literature review, measure selection, scale development, data collection/recruitment, interview transcription, data analysis, craft conference presentations, and manuscript writing.

Can I participate in their lab without attending lab meetings? 

• No, only students who regularly attend the lab meetings can participate (see above).

How do I join?

• To assess fit with the lab, please send a detailed email to Dr. McCullough (keiko.mccullough@du.edu) with:

  • your research interests

  • how you envision yourself contributing to the lab

  • your availability

• A follow-up discussion about overall fit may be scheduled via zoom or in person. 

• Open Lab Meetings: For those interested in learning more about the lab and current projects (without committing to lab membership), Dr. McCullough opens their lab meetings to all students once or twice a year. If you are interested in attending an “open” lab meeting, please send Dr. McCullough your name and email address with the subject line “Open Lab Meeting.”