Best Media Studies Books of 2025

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom is a collection of essays written by bell hooks, a writer, teacher, and black intellectual. In this book, hooks challenges the traditional approach to education and advocates for a new kind of education that promotes freedom by encouraging students to transgress against racial, sexual, and class boundaries. The book is a combination of personal narrative, critical theory, and dialogue that explores issues of class, gender, and race in the classroom. Overall, Teaching to Transgress is a thought-provoking and inspiring book that raises important questions about the future of teaching and learning.

The City Authentic by David A. Banks explores how cities are using social media influencers and reality-TV stars to appeal to modern desires for authentic urban living. Focusing on New York State’s Capital Region, Banks argues that the markers of urban decay translate into signs of authenticity online, driving economic growth. This engaging study blends urban sociology with media and cultural studies to offer a lively account of how urban development is changing in the twenty-first century. The City Authentic is a must-read for those interested in urban planning and development, offering a unique perspective on the attention economy and its impact on our cities.

Gender Trouble by Judith Butler, published by Routledge, is a well-known and controversial scholarly work that challenges traditional feminism's essentialist notions of gender and sex. Butler argues that gender is a social performance, not an inherent reality. The book has been praised for its groundbreaking ideas and innovative concepts, making it a must-read for anyone interested in feminist theory. This book is an intellectual pleasure and a political necessity that reshapes the way we experience and perform our lives and bodies.

Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks presents a blueprint for a global feminist movement. First published in 1984, the book remains relevant today, offering an analytical critique of American feminist theory. While hooks' direct style may unsettle some readers, the book is a readable and comprehensive guide for scholars and activists alike. The Women's Review of Books praised it as an important and widely used text in women's studies courses. Overall, Feminist Theory is a thought-provoking and significant contribution to general gender studies literature.

Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism is a groundbreaking classic work of feminist scholarship that examines the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman's involvement with feminism. Bell Hooks, a cultural critic, intellectual, and feminist writer, attempts to move beyond racist and sexist assumptions. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in black history, women's history, or the connection between the two. Overall, Ain't I a Woman is an absorbing delineation of the American black woman's oppression and a consistent analysis of the interrelationships of race, gender, and class in contemporary cultural life.

Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks is a thought-provoking book that combines critical thinking about education with autobiographical narratives. The author invites readers to extend the discourse of race, gender, class, and nationality beyond the classroom into everyday situations of learning. Teaching Community seeks to theorize from a positive place, looking at what works. The book discusses many issues, including spirituality in the classroom, white people looking to end racism, and erotic relationships between professors and students. Overall, Teaching Community is an insightful and inspiring read that encourages readers to think about how they can choose to end racism and create a beloved community.

Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks is a short and accessible primer that explores the nature of feminism and its positive promise to eliminate sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. With her characteristic clarity and directness, hooks encourages readers to see how feminism can touch and change their lives, emphasizing that feminism is for everybody. This book is a great introduction to the topic of feminism and is a must-read for anyone interested in gender studies and social justice.

The Death of Expertise by Tom Nichols explores how the rise of technology and increased access to information has led to a rejection of experts and established knowledge. Nichols argues that this rejection has resulted in an ill-informed and angry citizenry that threatens the stability of democracy. The paperback edition includes a new foreword that addresses the exacerbation of these trends in the aftermath of Donald Trump's election. This book is an important warning about the dangers of populist and technocratic tendencies in our society.

Bell Hooks explores the meaning of home and belonging in her latest book, Belonging: A Culture of Place. She reflects on issues of land ownership, black farmers, and organic food production, as well as the politics of race and class in the world of real estate. Hooks offers a remarkable vision of a world where everyone can live fully and well, regardless of where they call home. Her essays combine an ecological perspective with insights into African American agrarian history, making this book a unique and thought-provoking read for those interested in communication, media studies, and cultural criticism.

In Teaching Critical Thinking, bell hooks addresses the most pressing issues facing teachers today. From the complexities of teaching in large classrooms to confronting issues of self-esteem, hooks offers practical wisdom that is both provocative and joyful. She discusses the importance of reading and free speech, while also addressing questions of race, gender, and class. Her work celebrates the transformative power of critical thinking. A must-read for anyone interested in education today, Teaching Critical Thinking is a powerful and insightful book that offers a new perspective on teaching and learning.