Name: Lisa Phillips
Academic Rank: Associate Professor
Department: Digital Media & Journalism
Expertise Keywords: feature and magazine journalism, literary journalism, love and heartbreak, media ethics, reporting on mental health and relationships, romantic obsession, teen relationships, unrequited love, women in the New Journalism movement.
Available For: interviews, essays, speaking
Expertise: I am the author of FIRST LOVE: GUIDING TEENS THROUGH RELATIONSHIPS AND HEARTBREAK (Rowman & Littlefield 2025); UNREQUITED: WOMEN AND ROMANTIC OBSESSION (HarperCollins 2015) and PUBLIC RADIO: BEHIND THE VOICES (Perseus 2006). I have published articles in The New York Times, Psychology Today, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Cosmopolitan, Salon, and other national publications. I was a public radio reporter for 12 years. I have presented at national and international conferences on teaching literary journalism and longform journalism. My academic writing has been published in The Routledge Companion to American Literary Journalism, Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics, and Literary Journalism Studies.
Currrent Research: teen relationships, literary journalism, media ethics
Contact Information
E-mail Address: phillipl@newpaltz.edu
Home Phone: 845-332-3562
Personal Web Site: https://www.lisaamyphillips.com/
Other Information
Positions held at New Paltz prior to current position:
Adjunct professor
Positions held prior to joining SUNY New Paltz:
Freelance journalist for The New York Times and other publications; Hudson Valley Bureau Chief, WAMC Northeast Public Radio; reporter positions at public radio stations in Pittsburgh, PA, Iowa, and other locations.
Education
| Colleges/ Universities Attended |
Dates Attended |
Degree Conferred |
Year Conferred |
Major Subject |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Pittsburgh | 1995-1998 | M.F.A. | 1998 | Writing |
| Oberlin College | 1986-1990 | B.A. | 1990 | English |
Awards/Grants/Honors
SUNY New Paltz Research and Creative Projects Award (2011-2012, 2020-2021)
Second Place Faculty Paper Winner, Magazine Media Division Refereed Paper Session, The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference (2021).
David Abrahamson Prize for Best Article in Literary Journalism newsletter (2020, 2021)
Faculty Research Support Initiative, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, SUNY New Paltz (Fall 2017)
Excellence in Research and Creative Work, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, SUNY New Paltz (2015-2016)
Recipient of Residency, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (December 2012, November 2013)
Pre-Tenure Fellowship Leave, SUNY New Paltz (Fall 2013)
Kopenhaver Center Fellow, Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication at Florida International University and the AEJMC Commission on the Status of Women (August 2013)
Recipient of Honorable Mention Award, Scholarship of Application Competition, Small Programs Interest Group, Association for Education in Journalism
and Mass Communication (August 2013)
Recipient of Discretionary Salary Increases/Merit Award Payments (2006-2010; 2012, 2013)
Recipient of The Eli Cantor Residency, Yaddo Artists’ Colony (January 2012)
Recipient of Writing Residency, Wellspring House (Summer 2009)
Recipient of New York Foundation for the Arts Grant (2003)
Recipient of Writing Residency, Jentel Artist Residency Program (2003)
Recipient of New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault Media Excellence Award (2003)
Recipient of American Lung Association Hudson Valley Media Excellence Award (2003)
Recipient of Edward R. Murrow Northeast Region Use of Sound Award (2002)
Recipient of Edward R. Murrow Northeast Region Series Award (2001)
Recipient of New York Festival Silver Award (2001)
Recipient of Communicator Humor Award (2000)
Recipient of Communicator Feature Award (2000)
Recipient of Communicator News Reporting Award (2000)
Recipient of Writing Residency, the Ucross Foundation (1999)
Recipient of Writing Residency, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (1999)
Recipient of National Society of Arts and Letters/Pittsburgh Chapter Literary Award (1998)
Recipient of Scott Turow Award, University of Pittsburgh (1997)
Organizational Memberships
Treasurer, International Association for Literary Journalism Studies
Publications
Books
First Love: Guiding Teens Through Relationships and Heartbreak. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2025
Unrequited: Women and Romantic Obsession. New York: HarperCollins, 2015.
Public Radio: Behind the Voices. New York: Perseus Books, 2006.
Selected Articles
“Coming Out Looks Different for My Kid’s Generation.” Your Teen 15 Nov. 2021.
“Teens are Terrible at Breaking Up.” Washington Post 15 April 2021.
“The Endless Breakup.” Psychology Today May 2019: 68-77.
“Tangled in Turmoil.” Psychology Today November/December 2018: 65-71.
“Getting Close.” Psychology Today Jan./Feb. 2017: 44-53.
“Crazy Like an Ex: Eccentric’s Corner with Rachel Bloom.” Psychology Today September 2016: 27-29.
"It's Over." Psychology Today. June 2015.
"How Unrequited Love Makes Us More Creative." The Washington Post. Feb. 12, 2015.
"We Never Escape Teenage Crushes." Salon. Feb. 7, 2015.
"The Time I Turned Into a Stalker." Cosmopolitan. February 2015.
“Too Much Information.” The New York Times 7 Jan. 2011: ED33.
"Obsessed." Psychology Today. January 2015.
“I Couldn’t Let Go of Him. Did It Make Me a Stalker?” New York Times 3 Dec. 2006: 9.11.
