Prof. Teresa K. Naab studied media management at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. This is where she also received her PhD with a thesis on habits and rituals in television use. She was academic staff member at the Department of Journalism and Communication Research in Hanover and Akademische Raetin a. Z. [postdoctoral researcher] at the Department of Media, Knowledge and Communication at the University of Augsburg. She completed a research stay at the University of Georgia, USA, and served as visiting scholar at the LMU Munich and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. In February 2022, she was appointed as professor of digital communication at the University of Mannheim.
Her research focuses on the uses and effects of digital communication. In particular, she is interested in the role of digital communication for democratic processes, digital media literacy, and innovative empirical methods in the digital age.
Funded by the German Research Foundation, Teresa Naab investigates norm negotiations in online discussions of news websites and Facebook pages. She chairs the Working Group “Political Opinion Expressions on the Net” funded by the Center of Advanced Internet Studies. She is a member of the Interdisciplinary Working Group for the Analysis of Disrespectful Language (CAIS, Bochum). On behalf of the Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90 / Die Grünen in the Bavarian State Parliament, she investigates the challenges of digital media use in schools. To strengthen the transfer of scientific evidence to society, Teresa Naab engages in various projects involving civil society, media companies, and digital platforms.
Teresa Naab teaches Bachelor's and Master's courses in communication studies. Among other things, she offers classes on the use of digital media, the production of media content by non-institutionalised users, and methods of empirical social research.