Meryl Alper
malper [at] usc [dot] edu
Meryl Alper graduated magna cum laude from Northwestern University in 2005, double majoring in Communication Studies and History. She also holds a certificate in Early Childhood Education from UCLA. Prior to her graduate studies, Meryl interned in the Education & Research Department at Sesame Workshop and worked as Research Manager for the Emmy-nominated Nick Jr. preschool television series “Ni Hao, Kai-lan.” Her main area of research is young children’s evolving relationships with old and new technologies, and in particular, the social, cultural, and historical construction of early literacy, as well as assistive technologies for children with disabilities. Currently, Meryl serves as Research Assistant on a children’s transmedia storytelling project at the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, and initiatives with Lab partner The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. She has been published in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy and the Journal of Children and Media, and has a forthcoming book chapter on children and convergence culture in the Handbook of Children, Adolescents and Media. Her research has also been featured in Wired Magazine. Meryl is also the recipient of a Top Student Paper Award in the Children, Adolescents and Media Division at ICA.