Tiara Johnson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at Fisher, where she brings together her love of strategic communication, health advocacy, media, and perhaps most importantly, people. Dr. Johnson also brings her expertise and energy to several PR courses, including Introduction to Public Relations, Sin of Spin, and Social Media Management. She is advising both the PRSSA chapter and the PRIMA group.
In the classroom, she is especially excited to incorporate an ethics of care approach and encourage students to think beyond communication as simply a strategy, and instead consider how communication can build relationships, strengthen communities, and make a meaningful difference. One of her biggest goals is to connect Fisher students with the Rochester community. Dr. Johnson hopes to create opportunities for students to use their strategic communication skills in support of local health initiatives and organizations, ultimately building stronger connections between Fisher and Rochester’s vibrant health and community networks.
Before earning her doctorate, Dr. Johnson worked as a Multicultural Communications Consultant at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). Her professional experience spans a variety of public relations roles at the intersection of multicultural identities, health, and communication. During this time, she also became an author. In 2021, she published Living with 2020 Vision: The Mental Health Awakening in the Black Community (2021), a book exploring how the compounding events of 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic and its many social and cultural impacts, disproportionately affected the mental well-being of Black communities. Her commitment to mental health education and advocacy continues to be an important part of both her professional and personal work. As a critical qualitative scholar, Dr. Johnson’s research lives at the intersection of edutainment and media representation, mental health stigma, and minoritized identities. Her dissertation, Who Really Cares: A Who Really Cares: A Critical Textual Analysis of Television Portrayals of the Fictional “Black Lady Therapist” Post-Pandemic, examined how television portrays fictional “Black Lady Therapists” (BLTs) and how these representations can both challenge and reinforce stereotypes about Black women, care, and mental health.
When she is not teaching, researching, or advocating for mental health education, this Atlanta-bred Georgia peach enjoys spending time by the water and prioritizing her own well-being. She is a self-proclaimed “Pilates princess” and may even be on her way to becoming an instructor soon.
TiaraJohnsonAssistant ProfessorFay 209tjohnson@sjf.edu(585) 385-5282/media/sized-image-library/headshots-160-x-160/generic-profile.pngTiara Johnson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at Fisher, where she brings together her love of strategic communication, health advocacy, media, and perhaps most importantly, people. Dr. Johnson also brings her expertise and energy to several PR courses, including Introduction to Public Relations, Sin of Spin, and Social Media Management. She is advising both the PRSSA chapter and the PRIMA group.
In the classroom, she is especially excited to incorporate an ethics of care approach and encourage students to think beyond communication as simply a strategy, and instead consider how communication can build relationships, strengthen communities, and make a meaningful difference. One of her biggest goals is to connect Fisher students with the Rochester community. Dr. Johnson hopes to create opportunities for students to use their strategic communication skills in support of local health initiatives and organizations, ultimately building stronger connections between Fisher and Rochester’s vibrant health and community networks.
Before earning her doctorate, Dr. Johnson worked as a Multicultural Communications Consultant at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). Her professional experience spans a variety of public relations roles at the intersection of multicultural identities, health, and communication. During this time, she also became an author. In 2021, she published Living with 2020 Vision: The Mental Health Awakening in the Black Community (2021), a book exploring how the compounding events of 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic and its many social and cultural impacts, disproportionately affected the mental well-being of Black communities. Her commitment to mental health education and advocacy continues to be an important part of both her professional and personal work. As a critical qualitative scholar, Dr. Johnson’s research lives at the intersection of edutainment and media representation, mental health stigma, and minoritized identities. Her dissertation, Who Really Cares: A Who Really Cares: A Critical Textual Analysis of Television Portrayals of the Fictional “Black Lady Therapist” Post-Pandemic, examined how television portrays fictional “Black Lady Therapists” (BLTs) and how these representations can both challenge and reinforce stereotypes about Black women, care, and mental health.
When she is not teaching, researching, or advocating for mental health education, this Atlanta-bred Georgia peach enjoys spending time by the water and prioritizing her own well-being. She is a self-proclaimed “Pilates princess” and may even be on her way to becoming an instructor soon.
