Jeffrey Lane, who studies communication and technology as it relates to urban life, criminal justice, and social inequalities, and is a faculty member in the SC&I Communication Department, has been promoted to associate professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2021. The Rutgers University Board of Governors announced his promotion on April 14, 2021.

“I so enjoy my colleagues, students, and the intellectual and engaged environment of SC&I. I’m honored by tenure and thrilled to have the chance to keep developing research, classes, and service connections that strive to understand and support urban communities in the digital age,” said Lane.     

Lane’s current streams of research include understanding social media as evidence in criminal court, the role of gender in school discipline, and a visual study of perceptions of Harlem. Lane teaches courses in Urban Communication, Communication, Technology & Society, Mediated Communication, Qualitative Methods, and Ethnography.

Lane is the author of the award-winning book “The Digital Street,” published in 2018 by Oxford University Press. The first book about neighborhood street life in the digital age, it draws on nearly five years of ethnographic research Lane conducted online and offline in Harlem with a set of teenagers and the adults concerned about them.

“Under the Boards” (University of Nebraska Press), Lane's previous book, focuses on the production of race, masculinity, and popular culture in the basketball industry. 

Professor and chair of the Communication Department, Lea Stewart, said, “The faculty in the Department of Communication enthusiastically congratulate Jeffrey Lane on his tenure and promotion to associate professor. Dr. Lane is a wonderful colleague and supportive member of our department. His contributions across teaching, research, and service have been outstanding. His teaching is highly valued by his students at all levels including receiving the SC&I Doctoral Student Award. Dr. Lane uses ethnographic, community-centered research to examine how online and offline worlds intersect, as well as how communication and communication technologies influence and reinforce broader social inequalities. His contributions to this area of study have been widely recognized. Among his many service contributions, Dr. Lane has helped shape legal policy related to social media surveillance and the privacy-related rights of digital technology users. We are fortunate to have Dr. Lane in our department and look forward to his continued contributions as an Associate Professor.”

Lane has received many awards for his publications and research. These include:

• 2019 Best Book Award for The Digital Street, Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Section (CITAMS), American Sociological Association (ASA)
• 2019 Nancy Baym Book Award for The Digital Street, Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
• 2019 Honorable Mention, Book of the Year Award for The Digital Street from the Human Communication & Technology Division (HCTD) of the National Communication Association (NCA)
• 2019 Distinguished Achievement in Research Award, Department of Communication, Rutgers University
• 2017 Outstanding Ph.D. Faculty Award, Doctoral Student Association, School of Communication & Information, Rutgers University
• 2017 Distinguished Achievement in Teaching Award, Department of Communication, Rutgers University

 Read more about Lane in the following articles on the SC&I website:

Jeffrey Lane Honored At Rutgers Faculty Excellence Ceremony

Aronson And Lane Collaborate On The Exhibit "City/Game: Basketball In New York

SC&I's Lane Publishes First Book To Explore Impact Of Digitization On A Neighborhood

Jeffrey Lane Weighs In On Cell Phone Data Use In Carpenter V. United States

Learn more about Lane and the Communication Department on the Rutgers School of Communication and Information website.