Professor Terhi Rantanen

Please note Professor Rantanen will be on sabbatical leave during the 2026 Winter Term. See term dates.

Professor Terhi Rantanen (MSc; LicSc; DocSc; Docent, University of Helsinki) is Professor of Global Media and Communications. She founded and directed the Department’s three double MSc programmes with:

• University of Southern California (USC) (2000–2024)
• Fudan University, Shanghai (2007-2010)
• New York University (NYU) (admissions starting in October)

Her research focuses on globalization and media, especially news organizations and the history of knowledge production. Drawing on Karl Mannheim and Robert Merton, her latest book Dead Men’s Propaganda (LSE Press, 2024) uses archival research and case studies to explore the ideological foundations of early comparative communications research. She highlights the contributions of both prominent academics, such as Harold Lasswell and the authors of Four Theories of the Press, and lesser-known figures like émigré scholars Paul Kecskemeti and Nathan Leites. Her study reveals how the interplay of ideology and utopia shaped knowledge production and defined boundaries between insiders and outsiders in the field.

Professor Rantanen has held senior governance roles at LSE, including membership on the Council, Court, Ethics, Governance, Honorary Awards, and Nominations Committees, and served as Chair of the Graduate Studies Sub-Committee (GSSC).

Expertise

media globalization, news agencies, media history, national and global news, comparative research.