Matthew D. Matsaganis

I was born in Athens, Greece and grew up traveling between Athens and Boston to keep my grandparents on both sides of the Atlantic happy. My mother, a Scottish-Irish American, moved to Greece over 30 years ago, after meeting my father. I earned a B.A. in Communication and Mass Media (with distinction) at the National & Capodistrian University of Athens and then moved to the United States to complete a M.A. in Political Communication at the School of Communication, Management, and Public Policy of Emerson College, in Boston.  Two years later, I decided to move to Los Angeles and pursue a Ph.D. degreeat the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. In the course of my studies and research at USC I also became interested in the ways social scientists can employ concepts and analytical proceduresdeveloped in Geography to study urban communities. In 2006, I obtained a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science (GIS).

In recent years, through a burgeoning number of studies, researchers have striven to better understand the impact of the residential community on the lives of its residents. My dissertation research focuses on the question of how, under what conditions, and to what degree institutional resources – health service providers, community organizations and non-profits, as well as local and ethnic media – available in diverse ethnic neighborhoods impact health literacy and residents’ access to health and child care resources. This study develops a theoretical framework rooted in communication and sociology and employs multiple research methods, including survey data analysis (via structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling procedures), GIS-based socio-spatial data analysis, interviews, and focus groups.

Currently, I am also working on the manuscript of a book (with Vikki Katz and Sandra Ball-Rokeach) on ethnic and immigrant media that would serve as a textbook and guide for curriculum development on this topic. The book is under contract with Sage Publications and should be completed by September 2008. Additionally, I am working with Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Holley Wilkin, Yong-Chan Kim, and Meghan Moran on a NIH grant application for the development of a new measure of health literacy.

In what seems to be a previous life sometimes, I worked both as a journalist and consultant for local and national newspapers in Greece, as well as Greek-American publications based in New York City. I have also worked as a communication consultant for non-profit organizations, such as Aids Project Los Angeles.

While continuing to work with the Metamorphosis Project team at the Annenberg School, starting in fall 2007, I will also be joining the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute as a Research Fellow.