Gina’s early research in media literacy was grounded in the legacy media landscape and shaped by her work with Robert Kubey, Ph.D., whose studies on television addiction and media’s impact on quality of life provided a critical foundation. Drawing on cognitive processing theory and Kubey’s media effects scholarship, she developed a six-week media literacy intervention for middle school students focused on advertising analysis and media production. The goal was to assess whether hands-on engagement could strengthen students’ information-processing behaviors. This work laid the foundation for her dissertation, Media Mindfulness: Developing the Motivation and Ability to Process Advertisements (Marcello-Serafin, 2008), which confirmed that production and storytelling skills significantly increased students’ cognitive engagement with media texts, particularly advertisements. As digital screens later permeated all aspects of daily life, Gina’s approach evolved to address the complexities of an emerging media ecosystem, while remaining anchored in the core principles of critical inquiry and cognitive engagement.

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Building on this foundation, Gina’s work has evolved in response to the profound shifts brought about by the rise of digital platforms, algorithmic personalization, and the rapid spread of misinformation. Today, she brings her legacy media expertise into conversation with the socio-technical realities of the digital age. Her current teaching centers on Disinformation Detox, an interdisciplinary general education course she co-developed for the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University. The course integrates theories from Journalism and Media Studies, Communication, and Information Science, and challenges students to critically examine how cognitive bias, platform design, political economy, and systems of power intersect to shape what we see, believe, and share. Through this work, Gina continues her long-standing commitment to fostering mindful, critical, and empowered media engagement adapted to meet the challenges of a polluted and participatory information ecosystem.

 

At the heart of Gina’s current work is a deep concern for digital wellness and helping students not only recognize misinformation but also develop sustainable habits for navigating an always-on media environment. She emphasizes the importance of epistemic awareness, reflective screen use, and understanding the persuasive architecture of digital platforms. Her teaching encourages students to interrogate the systems that produce and amplify problematic information, while also equipping them with strategies to manage attention, reduce cognitive overload, and cultivate agency in their information practices.

 

Over the past two decades, Gina has developed and led curricula across communication, media production, marketing, civic education, and digital media studies. Her academic leadership includes roles as Associate Professor and Chair of the Communication Department at Saint Elizabeth University, Program Chair of Digital Communication at Georgian Court University, and co-author of the Communication major at County College of Morris. Beyond the classroom, she has also brought media literacy to professional and public audiences as a corporate training facilitator and speaker through Marcello Communications.

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