Author: hrush@illinois.edu

Media literacy research and engagement initiatives address societal challenges

Post-Its from IMEDIA workshop

October 29, 2025

Faculty and graduate students across the College of Media are pursuing a range of activities aimed at understanding challenges to media literacy and developing interventions to improve it.

Post-Its from IMEDIA workshop

Recent activities include:

A team including Michelle Nelson, professor of advertising, Amanda Ciafone, associate professor of media and cinema studies, Stephanie Craft, professor of journalism, ICR doctoral student Gillian Paxton, and undergraduate student Maaike Niekerk, is investigating older adults’ media use, media literacy, and the role of media in fostering social connection. The research seeks to understand how older adults use media across a broad range of platforms and tools, including generative AI, and the challenges they face in doing so. The aim is to explore how improving media literacy may help them better navigate the media environment to meet their social and information needs. The study involves interviews with those who offer help and instruction regarding media and technology use through senior centers, public libraries, park districts and the like, and focus groups with older adults. This project is funded by a College of Media seed grant.

Professor Amanda Ciafone presenting at IMEDIA workshop
Amanda Ciafone, associate professor of media and cinema studies, presents at a workshop hosted by IMEDIA.

Related to this project, Ciafone was awarded funding to organize media and digital literacy workshops with European scholars and advocates to advance research, education, and transatlantic dialogue on older age and media literacy under the Jean Monnet Center of Excellence grant awarded to the European Union Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Ciafone said Europe has more rapid “demographic aging,” where a population’s average age increases, than the United States and robust models for media literacy policy and education.

As part of its mission to bolster research in media literacy, the College of Media hosts a regular gathering of faculty across campus to discuss research in media literacy across disciplines and to identify potential opportunities for collaboration. These conversations have so far included faculty in the College of Fine & Applied Arts, University Library, School of Information Sciences, College of Education, and College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

The Initiative for Media Education Inquiry and Action, a collaboration between the College of Media and College of Education, is developing a media literacy micro-credential for teachers. IMEDIA was created in 2021 to help teachers in Illinois fulfill the mandate of a state law requiring media literacy instruction in public high schools. IMEDIA has offered in-person workshops for teachers to help them incorporate media literacy into their current teaching. The aim of the micro-credential is to broaden the reach of workshops by making the instruction and resources available online in a way that also offers teachers the opportunity to add a media literacy credential to their licenses.

A research study conducted by Nelson, ICR doctoral student Sakshi Bhalla, and Michael Spikes, co-founder of the Illinois Media Literacy Coalition, emerged from IMEDIA’s teacher workshops. The study, which included interviews with 20 educators from across the state of Illinois about the nature and challenges of media literacy education in their schools, found several digital divides that undermine the efficacy of state-mandated media literacy instruction in Illinois high schools. Their findings were published in the Journal of Media Literacy Education.

IMEDIA also is updating its eText, MEdia Matters, which is currently used in a variety of introductory undergraduate courses. The text will be a key resource for teachers pursuing the micro-credential and will be freely available for use in their classrooms.

Craft is part of a team comprising faculty from five universities engaged in a long-term research initiative to build a model of news literacy behavior that will inform efforts to increase people’s resistance to misinformation. The team has developed a widely used measure of news literacy knowledge and most recently has been investigating how greater news literacy knowledge translates into better news consumption behaviors reflecting that greater knowledge. The most recent study was presented in August at the annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.   

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Illinois Public Media’s magazine program ‘Prairie Fire’ wins five regional Emmys

October 28, 2025

Prairie Fire, a magazine program produced by WILL-TV at Illinois Public Media, was awarded five regional Emmys across five categories at the 2025 Mid-America Regional Emmy Awards, including “Best Magazine Program” in the region.

“Our win for Magazine Program for the second year in a row is a real thrill for the Prairie Fire team” said host and producer Sarah Edwards, “because it really underscores the excellence and thought we put in to making every episode as good as it can be. Prairie Fire represents the best of PBS programming produced at the local level.”

The team, which was nominated for 10 awards, also earned regional Emmys in the following categories:

The Prairie Fire Emmy-winning production team includes Edwards, fellow producers Taylor Plantan, DJ Roach, and Tinisha Spain, along with cinematographer Daniel Clarke, and audio engineer and cinematographer James Treichler. (Pictured below: Producers Tinisha Spain, Taylor Plantan, and Sarah Edwards, who also hosts Prairie Fire, with one of the Emmys they won for their program.)

"Prairie Fire" team

“As producers of the show, we carefully curate and construct the stories of Illinois’s local characters to highlight the very best creatives, small business owners, and innovators our state has to offer,” said Plantan. “The success of the program is a testament to the charisma and talent of the Central Illinois community.”

Spain pointed to the significance of the work done by the Prairie Fire team. “Being honored with an Emmy is a deeply humbling reminder that local storytelling is important—that the stories we tell do matter,” she said.

“We’re incredibly proud of the Prairie Fire team and their dedication to telling authentic, locally grounded stories,” said Moss Bresnahan, Illinois Public Media’s executive director. “These awards reflect the quality, creativity, and heart that exemplify Illinois Public Media’s work.”

About Prairie Fire

Reimagined and brought to life once more, Prairie Fire is a new take on WILL-TV’s beloved magazine program from the mid-1990s. Rooted in storytelling, Prairie Fire brings viewers cinematic documentaries, profiles, and performances from downstate Illinois. The show airs on local PBS stations across the state of Illinois, including Nine Network St. Louis and WTTW Chicago.

Illinois Public Media is a not-for-profit public media service of the College of Media at the University of Illinois, enriching people’s lives through programs and services that educate, entertain, inspire, empower, and address community needs and concerns. Additional services include WILL-AM 580, Illinois Soul (FM 101.1) WILL-TV, Illinois Public Media News, and many more.

Seo-Jeong (Rachel) Heo

Seo-Jeong (Rachel) Heo

Email: sjheo2@illinois.edu

Research Interests

My research focuses on human–AI interaction in advertising and marketing contexts, with particular emphasis on how AI-driven advertising shapes consumer perception, attitude, and underlying psychological mechanisms. Specifically, I examine (1) virtual influencers as persuasive agents, (2) large language model (LLM) interfaces as persuasive environments, and (3) social robots as embodied communicators. Across these domains, my work aims to advance theory on AI-mediated persuasion by integrating insights from social and cognitive psychology.

Recent Publications/Presentations

Heo, S.-J., Park, S.-I., Lee, & Y.-J. (2025) Finessing Realism: Harmonizing Mixed Reality and Message Framing in Virtual Influencer Advertising – Mind Perception Theory Application. Proceedings of the 2025 American Academy of Advertising (AAA) 

Park, S.-I., Lee, Y.-J. & Heo, S.-J. (2025) In Watermark We Trust? Exploring How Consumers Cope with AI Influencer Advertising: Multidimensional Persuasion Knowledge and Construal Level Approach. Proceedings of the 2025 American Academy of Advertising (AAA) 

Lee, Y.-J., Heo, S.-J. & Park, S.-I. (2025) When Virtual (vs. Human) Celebrity Voice Matters: Interplay between Celebrity Type and Endorsing Message – Construal Level Theory Application. Proceedings of the 2025 American Academy of Advertising (AAA) 

Heo, S.-J. & Ham, C.-D. (2024), Exploring Motivation to Follow Virtual Influencers (VIs): The Role of Emotional Attachment as a Mechanism for Generating Positive Effects in VI-Endorsed Advertising, Global Advertising Colloquium, Korean Advertising Society, July 2024, Seoul, Korea.

Courses Taught

  • ADV 360: Innovations in Advertising, instructor of record 
  • ADV 283: Advertising & Brand Strategy, instructor of record 
  • ADV 281: Advertising Research Method, instructor of record 
  • ADV 150: Introduction to Advertising, teaching assistant

Awards and Honors

  • Fall 2025 Washington Media Scholars Foundation Fund for Graduate Students, Advertising Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), 2025 
  • Competitive award recognizing outstanding graduate research potential in advertising and media scholarship. Sponsored by the Washington Media Scholars Foundation. 
  • Fall 2025 Maureen Moore Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2025 Graduate fellowship awarded by the UIUC Graduate College in recognition of academic excellence and research achievement. 
  • Spring 2023 List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
  • Fall 2023 List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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I on the Media: Mike Yao discusses dependence on AI

AI illustration

September 2, 2025

Recently, there has been heightened media attention around the potential misuse of generative AI tools like ChatGPT—ranging from stories about individuals using it in harmful ways to concerns about people becoming overly dependent on it for companionship or therapy. While these accounts may represent extreme cases, they raise important questions about the role of AI in everyday life and how society should think about its limitations.

The College of Media spoke with artificial intelligence expert Mike Yao to learn more.

About the Media Expert

headshot of Mike Yao

Mike Yao is a professor of digital media in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising and director of the Institute of Communications Research. He also oversees the Media, Technology, and Social Behavior Research Lab at Illinois and is a contributor to campus’s Generative AI Solutions Hub. Yao’s research delves into the interplay between media, technology, society, and human communication. He examines how people engage with emerging technologies like AI and immersive multimedia across diverse social settings and how these interactions influence social behavior and human communication in digitally mediated spaces.

What have you learned about artificial intelligence so far through your research?

At the Media Technology and Social Behavior Research Lab, we study not only what AI can do technically, but also how people actually communicate with it. Our research looks at the dynamics and social processes embedded in human–AI dialogue. Instead of treating AI as just a tool that performs specific functions, we focus on the communicative side, examining biases, stereotypes, expectations, linguistic patterns, and conversational styles that emerge when people interact with AI in social or interpersonal contexts.

What we are increasingly finding is that much of the challenge stems from the interface itself. Generative AI systems like ChatGPT are conversational by design. They allow people to use natural language to give instructions or ask for support. This seems simple, but it represents a profound departure from earlier technologies. In the past, users had to click with a mouse or write a line of code, actions that were purely instrumental and utilitarian, to “communicate” with technological systems. Once the interface begins to mimic human conversation, it introduces an entirely new layer of social, cultural, and psychological meaning into the interaction.

This conversational affordance makes AI feel more like a partner than a tool, opening the door to emotional connection, dependency, and even relationship-like dynamics. People begin to apply the same relational scripts they use with other humans—seeking empathy, validation, or intimacy. That is why the risks around reliance, especially in friendship or therapeutic contexts, are so pronounced.

At the same time, this is still a very new and rapidly growing area of research. We are only beginning to gather empirical evidence about how these relationships form, what they mean, and how they might shape human-to-human communication. What is clear, however, is that AI’s conversational design fundamentally changes how people use and think about technology, creating opportunities but also raising complex questions about boundaries, responsibility, and human well-being.

Where should we draw the line between what AI tools can do (brainstorming, tutoring) versus what should remain in the hands of trained professionals (mental health counseling, medical advice)?

AI illustration

The line between AI use and human expertise is not fixed; it has to be negotiated. Historically, the affordances of technology were clear: a hammer looks like it’s meant to hit nails, and it is intended to be used for performing that task. Generative AI is different. It’s a general-purpose system whose applications vary enormously depending on how a person first encounters it; one user sees a math tutor, another a coding partner, another a conversational companion. Because we don’t yet have stable “mental prototypes” of what AI is for, people project many different expectations onto it.

This makes it risky to rely solely on instinct or isolated stories when deciding what AI should or shouldn’t do. Instead, these boundaries should be informed by empirical evidence and social science research studying how people actually use AI, what benefits and harms emerge, and in what contexts.

My own view is that AI should be framed as a complementary tool rather than a replacement. Professionals, doctors, counselors, and teachers may use it to extend their capacity, but accountability for accuracy, safety, and judgment must remain with the human expert. The stakes are different for students or learners, who are still building the very skills AI might perform for them. Outsourcing too much to AI in those contexts risks undermining education and development.

And here’s where creativity offers an important example. Human creativity has multiple dimensions: idea generation, originality, and the craft of execution. AI can assist in implementation, but it cannot substitute the human act of judgment—deciding whether something is good, meaningful, or valuable. A piece of art, for instance, isn’t only about technical execution; it’s about interpretation in a social and cultural context. That value judgment is inherently human. If we let AI replace that instead of empowering it, we risk reducing creativity to production rather than meaning-making.

What responsibility should companies like OpenAI have in building safeguards against harmful usage, and what responsibility falls on society, parents, educators, or policymakers?

Responsibility here is shared. Companies like OpenAI clearly need to build technical safeguards, set limits, and be transparent about risks. But society as a whole also has a role: parents, educators, and policymakers must help set the norms and guardrails.

We’ve faced similar challenges before. Think about movie ratings, Internet protocols, or even electricity and railroad standards. These were not set by companies alone. They emerged through collective debate, negotiation, and regulation. AI is no different.

So, while developers must act responsibly, it is also vital that we, as a society, engage in open dialogue about values; what kind of transparency, respect, and agency we want to guarantee. Only through democratic processes and evidence-based policymaking can we create the appropriate boundaries for AI use.

What strategies can educators, media professionals, and advertisers use to encourage positive, productive uses of chatbots—while discouraging harmful or unhealthy reliance?

I think the guiding principle should be this: AI should empower humans and enrich human experience, not replace it. Technology should extend human capacity, not lead us away from it.

For educators, this means being clear about boundaries. Young people and students are especially vulnerable because they may not yet have the knowledge to judge AI’s output. They might outsource their learning without realizing what they’re losing. Educators need to frame AI as a support tool, for brainstorming, practice, or feedback, while keeping the responsibility for understanding and critical thinking with the learner.

For professionals such as journalists, marketers, or advertisers, the principle is similar. AI can make processes faster or more efficient, but the responsibility for quality, accuracy, and ethical judgment always lies with the human communicator. A writer might use AI to refine a draft, but the accountability for what’s published belongs to the writer, not the machine.

In terms of messaging, media and advertisers can help by highlighting these responsible uses and reinforcing that AI is a tool to support, not substitute, human creativity, empathy, and expertise.

What risks emerge when users turn to ChatGPT for friendship, therapy, or even romantic companionship? How might this affect human-to-human relationships in the long term?

The risks are real, but they’re also complicated. Humans are creative—we often use technologies in unintended ways. Some people are turning to AI chatbots for companionship, therapy, or even romantic connection. The conversational style of these systems makes them feel supportive, echoing patterns we know from parasocial relationships with media or even earlier technologies.

The danger is that overreliance on AI could weaken human-to-human relationships. If people begin substituting machine companionship for the effort and vulnerability required in real human connections, that could have long-term social costs.

But there’s also an opportunity here: AI functions as a mirror. Instead of only asking “what is AI doing wrong?”, we might ask “what is missing in people’s lives that makes AI companionship so appealing?” Loneliness, lack of empathy, strained family dynamics—these are human issues, and AI is simply revealing them in a new way.

So, the real risk is not just technological misuse, but a failure to reflect on ourselves. If we treat every problem as “AI’s fault,” we miss the deeper lesson: what human needs are being unmet, and how can we as a society address them?

If companies promote or integrate ChatGPT into their products, what ethical obligations do they have in framing its limits? How can advertising balance highlighting its benefits without overselling its role?

Ethics can be debated, but some principles are broadly shared: transparency, respect, and human agency. Companies have an obligation not to oversell AI as a replacement for human expertise or care. They should present it as a supportive tool while being clear about what it cannot do.

Advertising should highlight real benefits, efficiency, accessibility, assistance, while also being explicit about limits. The obligation is honesty: to frame AI as a powerful supplement, not a magical replacement.

“I on the Media” is a series from the University of Illinois College of Media in which faculty at the college address current issues and research.

Azam Hasanpour

Azam Hasanpour
Azam Hasanpour

Email: azamh2@illinois.edu

Research Interests

  • Media Studies
  • Critical Studies
  • Social Sciences
  • Documentary Studies
  • Visual Studies
  • Visual Arts
  • Gender studies
  • Digital Humanities

Azam is a multidisciplinary film and theatre artist with an MA in Cinema from the University of Tehran and an MFA in Film and Media Arts from Temple University. With over eight years of focused experience in filmmaking, she brings a rich background in both artistic practice and academic research. Her work spans narrative film, media art installations, and experimental documentary forms.

Azam’s interdisciplinary work bridges the arts and humanities, particularly in Digital Humanities, Visual Arts, Mixed Media, Documentary Studies and Critical Visual and Media Studies. She is interested in media art installations and essays that explore emerging documentary forms and narrative expression. She has also contributed to the organization of international festivals, including the Fadjr International Film and Theatre Festival, the Tampere Film Festival, and the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.

Recent Publications/Presentations

Book

  • Hasanpour, A. (2018). “Structure, Time and Narrative.” Institute of Culture, Art and Communication Publications, Tehran, Iran.

Articles

  • Hasanpour, A. (2017). “From Shahrzad the Storyteller to Shahrzad the Playwright: One Thousand and One Nights, according to Reza Kamal Shahrzard.” Conference on 170 Years of Reading One Thousand and One Nights, attended by Professor Ulrich Marzolf. Tehran, Iran. I.S.B.N.: 978-600-222-371-5.
  • Mahmoodi Bakhtiari, B., Aliari, F., Hasanpour, A. (2016). “Representation of Kurds in Iranian Feature Films: A Cultural Semiotic Study.” Cultural Heritage and Tourism Research Center, No. 3, pp. 151-176. I.S.B.N.: 2538-1709.
  • Alasti, A., Hasanpour, A., Mahmoodi Bakhtiari, B. (2015). “Multiplicity of Points of View in Terrence Malick’s Trilogy.” AVANCA/CINEMA (International Cinema Conference), Avanca, Portugal. I.S.B.N.: 978-989-96858-6-4.
  • Hasanpour, A., Mahmoodi Bakhtiari, B. (2015). “The Reflection of Languages and Cultures of the Iranian People in Iranian Feature Films.” University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Conferences

  • Hasanpour, A., Goshtasb, A., Mahmoodi Bakhtiari, B. (2019). “Feminine Private Shows of the Qajar Era: A Feminist Approach.” 6th International Conference of Modern Approaches in Humanities, Paris, France.
  • Hasanpour, A., Mahmoodi Bakhtiari, B. (2017). “The Reflection of Languages and Cultures of the Iranian People in TV Series: A Cultural Semiotic Study.” International Conference on Language and Media (IRIB), Tehran, Iran.
  • Hasanpour, A. (2016). “Shift of Point of View in the Cinematic Narrations of One Thousand and One Nights.” International Conference on Literature and Cinema, University of Tehran and National School of Cinema, Tehran, Iran.
  • Hasanpour, A. (2016). “From Shahrzad the Storyteller to Shahrzad the Playwright: One Thousand and One Nights, according to Reza Kamal Shahrzard.” Conference on 170 Years of Reading One Thousand and One Nights, attended by Professor Ulrich Marzolf, Tehran, Iran.

Courses Taught

  • MAS 100: Intro to Popular TV & Movies

Awards and Honors

  • Motion Picture Association Scholarship Award, Temple Film and Media Arts Departmental Award, Philadelphia, PA, USA. (2024).
  • Philadelphia Student Media maker Grant, Scribe Video Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA. $2000, (2024).
  • Full Fellowship in Film and Media Production program (MFA), Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA. (2022 -2025).
  • Winner of the special award for Participation in “Exchange Program, ONE (WO) MAN, ONE CAMERA, ONE SOUND at the National Film School of Denmark and International Media Support (IMS), Copenhagen, Denmark. (2016).
  • Winner of the special jury award for “Thirst”, 5th Iran International Green Film Festival and 9th Green Me Global Festival for Sustainability, Tehran, Tehran, Iran. (2016).
  • Official selection for “Baran” in the Arabian Nights Film Festival: The Cinematheque of Copenhagen and Danish film institute, Copenhagen, Denmark. (2016).

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Grad student Sekhar Padmanabhan champions public service journalism as manager, reporter at life-saving wildfire app Watch Duty

Smoke from the January 2025 wildfires light up the sunrise over downtown Los Angeles, CA.

August 27, 2025 | Holly Rushakoff

Smoke from the January 2025 wildfires light up the sunrise over downtown Los Angeles, CA.
Smoke from the wildfires light up the sunrise over downtown Los Angeles, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by GDMatthews, Adobe Stock.)

During the historically destructive wildfires in Los Angeles in January 2025, Sekhar Padmanabhan, a graduate student in the online science and technology journalism specialization program, found himself in need of the real-time alerts issued by Watch Duty, a free app where he works as a senior regional reporting manager and staff reporter.

Sekhar
Sekhar Padmanabhan

Although he was on the edge of the evacuation order zone, he stayed home with his cats while other reporters covered for him.

“I was watching on Watch Duty, just like everybody else,” Padmanabhan said. “I had the scanner and our Slack channels, but still, it was a very surreal experience.”

He was even interviewed by PBS Newshour to share his accounts as a Watch Duty employee who was also witnessing the fire grow.

Living through a wildfire firsthand and relying on Watch Duty to help him make decisions made him value the nonprofit service even more.

“What we want to do is give people enough information that’s correct, that they can do something with when things are happening, because you don’t always think clearly in an emergency,” he said.

While Padmanabhan’s home survived, he said, “everybody I knew, knew somebody who lost something”—his niece’s classmates lost homes in the Palisades, his sister’s friend’s restaurant burned down in Malibu, and his girlfriend’s doctor’s office burned down in Altadena.   

His job carries immense responsibility because not only does Watch Duty serve the general public, it also serves the first responders who use it when risking their lives. In just one night during the January wildfires, 600,000 new users signed up.

It’s been very rewarding to know that we have definitely helped people, given people extra time to get out, grab their pets, grab things they need, and be able to make informed decisions.

Sekhar Padmanabhan

Senior Regional Reporting Manager and Staff Reporter, Watch Duty

Watch Duty, which launched in August 2021, currently provides service to the Western half of the U.S., covering 22 states, and is staffed by 20 full-time employees, including reporters and engineers, and 300 volunteers, including firefighters, dispatchers, and first responders.  

Watch Duty app
The Watch Duty app interface, which alerts users of nearby wildfires and firefighting efforts in real-time.

For its role as a lifesaver, Watch Duty was recently named one of TIME’s Most Influential Companies of 2025 in the Pioneer category and received a 2025 Apple Design Award in the Social Impact category.

Padmanabhan said it’s gratifying to be recognized by these organizations for “doing this kind of, what I call, public service journalism.” More importantly, he’s grateful for the increased awareness and downloads of the app.

“It’s been very rewarding to know that we have definitely helped people, given people extra time to get out, grab their pets, grab things they need, and be able to make informed decisions,” Padmanabhan said.

Padmanabhan, who is nine credits away from graduating and becoming one of the first alumni of the Department of Journalism’s online science and technology journalism program, focused his master’s project on fire science and fire ecology. Specifically, he spoke with scientists who have studied pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which are commonly associated with wildfires.

“Basically, they’re thunderstorms that are generated by the fire,” he explained. “You may have heard something like fires can generate their own weather. Well, that’s what these are, and they can produce their own lightning, and rain, and all sorts of [phenomena].

“They produce these giant columns; some are up to 50,000 feet [and] can be seen from space,” he continued. “Even some of the smaller ones, when they collapse, when they go back down, they can throw a lot of wind out in all directions, which is dangerous for the firefighters on the ground and residents because you can’t predict it.”

Last semester, Padmanabhan wrote a 3,000-word article after interviewing scientists at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and the Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne, Australia. These scientists are working on predicting and modeling pyrocumulonimbus events so that fire managers will have a better idea of what’s coming.

“It really brought me back to what I love doing, which is getting this information out to the public,” he said.

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Luciana Salviano Marques da Silva

Luciana Salviano Marques da Silva

Email: luciana8@illinois.edu

Research Interests

  • Digital Journalism 
  • Artificial Intelligence 
  • Television Studies 
  • Media Literacy 
  • Quality Television 
  • Public Journalism 

Before joining ICR, I completed my Master’s degree in Media Studies at UFRN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte), in Brazil. My dissertation focused in Quality Television and public journalism. My Bachelor’s degree is in Social Communication with emphasis in Journalism and Radio & Television studies. During my undergraduate I spent a year in the UK studying Film and TV production at Anglia Ruskin University, in Cambridge.

Courses Taught

  • MACS 100: Introduction to Popular TV & Movies

Awards and Honors

  • Graduated with summa cum laude 
  • Scholarship for the program Science Without Borders

2025-2026 student award and scholarship recipients

Alma Mater

August 26, 2025

Alma Mater

Updated May 19, 2026

Congratulations to these College of Media students who received campus and college awards and honors, and scholarships and fellowships that were made possible thanks to our donors.

HONORS

Bronze Tablet
Inscription on the Bronze Tablets in the Main Library recognizes students ranking in the top three percent of their graduating class.

  • Amanda Barry
  • Christina Kivarkis
  • Hailey Kotowski
  • Mallory Miller
  • Adelyn Mui
  • Layli Nazarova
  • Sydney Populorum
  • Konrad Przeczek
  • Lauren Redenius
  • Benjamin Shlau
  • Kara Yoo
  • Jiaying Zhou

Highest Honors
Highest Honors status in the College of Media is awarded to graduating seniors in the top five percent of their graduating class.

  • Audrie Ballard
  • Amanda Barry
  • Emily Chen
  • Christina Kivarkis
  • Hailey Kotowski
  • Jenny Lin
  • Mallory Miller
  • Adelyn Mui
  • Layli Nazarova
  • Sydney Populorum
  • Konrad Przeczek
  • Lauren Redenius
  • Yingying Ren
  • Benjamin Shlau
  • Kara Yoo
  • Jiaying Zhou

High Honors
High Honors status in the College of Media is awarded to graduating seniors in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

  • Nicole Amrhein
  • Samantha Barajas
  • Sam Brody-Goldberg
  • Ruoxuan Chen
  • Reis Glover
  • Lauren Keith
  • Mattie Kennel
  • Ava Kolodziej
  • Caitlyn Land
  • Christopher LaPorte
  • Rory McFadden
  • Justin Meyers
  • Charles Michaels
  • Kendall O’Keefe
  • Caroline Pulford
  • Katherine Ratke
  • Heejae Shin
  • Lillian Paige Walk
  • Zhuoyi Wu

Honors
Honors status in the College of Media is awarded to graduating seniors in the top 20 percent of their graduating class.

  • Thanistha Bisalputra
  • Natalie Circolone
  • Li Deng
  • Elie Dixon
  • Kyle Ehrenhaft
  • Rawan El-Bawab
  • Siyi Gao
  • Lillian Garski
  • Raegan Gooding
  • Jillian Grabowski
  • Megan Harding
  • Macy Hull
  • Eunsung Koh
  • Kate Lamb
  • Shirley Ma
  • Maria Mancero
  • Haley Maser
  • Ryan McGee
  • Connor Micklos
  • Drew Mutchnik
  • Kaitlyn Nichols
  • Kyu Ha Nick Park
  • Piper Pascarella
  • Mary Piacente
  • Humza Qazi
  • Mariana Quezada Marquez
  • Eduardo Quintana
  • Chen Tu
  • Sofia Walters

James Scholars
This university-wide honors program encourages James Scholars to develop skills in leadership and service, research or honors coursework, service learning and global studies, and professional development.

  • Samantha Barajas
  • Amanda Barry
  • Diyosa Funk
  • Reis Glover
  • Raegan Gooding
  • Sofia Kanda
  • Eunsung Koh
  • Hailey Kotowski
  • Megan Krok
  • Christopher LaPorte
  • Peirong Li
  • Jenny Lin
  • Haley Maser
  • Mallory Miller
  • Nathan Murphy
  • Layli Nazarova
  • Kaitlyn Nichols
  • Kendall O’Keefe
  • Humza Qazi
  • Katherine Ratke
  • Madeline Santori
  • Sydney Spotts
  • Megan Ashley Wood

Kappa Tau Alpha
This college honor society recognizes academic excellence and promotes scholarship in journalism and mass communication.

  • Jenny Lin
  • Mallory Miller
  • Layli Nazarova
  • Lauren Redenius
  • Jiaying Zhou

Senior 100 Honorary
This campus honor recognizes academics, leadership, service, and engagement at the University of Illinois.

  • Emma Biallas
  • Sofia Kanda
  • Shivam Patel
  • Katerina Souleles
  • Sydney Spotts

AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS, & FELLOWSHIPS

A-Mark Journalism Master’s Scholarship

  • Kaniz Fatema

American Advertising Federation Most Promising Students

  • Odinakachukwu (Odi) Ogbuefi
  • Claire-Michelle Sweet
  • Kara Yoo

Anthony J. Petullo Endowment in Design and Advertising Fund

  • Alexandra Ehrhart
  • Zixuan (Zia) Lu

Barton A. Cummings Graduate Assistantship / Richard and Audrey Christian Graduate Assistantship

  • Tunga Jois
  • Michelle Martinez

Betty Hinckle Dunn Memorial Fund in Journalism

  • Annisyn Krebs-Carr

Bill Geist Broadcast Journalism Writing Prize

  • Mary Piacente

Brett Lerner Memorial Scholarship in Journalism

  • Sijie (Jenny) Lin

C&U Poster Advertising Company Scholarship

  • Tomi Dugbo

C. Arthur and Eleanor Hemminger Scholarship

  • Karys Boeriu
  • Yueming Gong
  • Yash Jagtap
  • Sofia Kanda
  • Tiffany Liu
  • Rory McFadden
  • Diego Miranda
  • Konrad Przeczek
  • Claire-Michelle Sweet

 C.O. “Doc” Erickson Scholarship in Journalism

  • Eunsung (Anna) Koh

Calvin Hugy Scholarship

  • Gabriella Blangiardo
  • Nevin McVicar
  • Kris Modi

Cardiss Collins Scholarship for Advertising Studies Fund

  • Kayla Robinson

Carl and Ruth S. Stephens Scholarship

  • Brendan Gallian
  • Isabella Lazansky
  • Maraya Petrova
  • Liliana Rodriguez
  • Madison (Maddie) Shaw

Charles G. Sotir Journalism Scholarship

  • Michael Sweeney

Clifford G. Christians Institute of Communications Research Career Advancement Fund

  • Tingyu Chen

College of Media Alumni Scholarship

  • Eduardo Quintana

College of Media Annual Fund Scholarship

  • Brianna Alvarado
  • Eli Kennel
  • Danielle Mitchell
  • Sophia Negrete
  • Livia Nigro
  • Josslyn Ostrom
  • Isabella (Izzy) Phillips
  • Rein Phone
  • Mary (Molly) Sloan
  • Elianna Williams

College of Media Dean’s Honors Scholarship

  • Thea Abang
  • Denise Aguilar
  • Maya Brito
  • Samantha (Sammy) Hernandez
  • Laila Hinton
  • Allison Ibarrientos
  • Jaelynn Isbendy
  • Quinn Isberg
  • Calli Kraft
  • Aria Manfroi
  • Jocelyn Melchor
  • Gabriel Montano
  • Noor Najjar
  • Isaiah Rohn
  • Yoselin Sanchez-Miran
  • Jenna Sissom
  • Joseph Tempel
  • Megan Weiss

College of Media Endowed Scholarship

  • Yufan Du
  • Elena Janeva
  • Ella Yoder

Cynthia Browne Placek Endowed Scholarship

  • Kennedy Caldwell

Daily Illini Journalism Scholarship Fund

  • Sofia Boddy
  • Qyler Bowie
  • Adam Edwards
  • Mariana Quezada Marquez
  • Alexandra Murphy
  • Emily Nnodi
  • Mary Piacente
  • Lillien Salas
  • Zachary Shapero
  • Evelyn (Evy) York

Daniel and Nancy Balz Endowed Fund in Journalism

  • Edgar Nava Garcia
  • Josephine (Richelle) Gunawan
  • Evelyn (Evy) York

David Shaul Endowed Scholarship in Journalism

  • Mariana Quezada Marquez

Dawn M. Turner and Kim D. Turner Endowed Scholarship in Media

  • Taya Brown

Deanna Frautschi and Alan Bedell Scholarship

  • Ben Shlau

Department of Journalism Scholarship

  • Faith Routley

Donald E. Chamberlain Journalism Scholarship

  • Prayse Odomes

Donald P. Mullally Internship at Illinois Public Media

  • Grace Merki

Ed Wilks Memorial Scholarship in Journalism

  • Giuliana Means

Florence Hood Miner Scholarship in Journalism

  • Jahzara Norris

Florence J. Johnson Scholarship

  • Yidan (Lisa) Hu
  • Peirong (Zoe) Li
  • Yuechen (Bonnie) Li
  • Nathaniel Murphy
  • Odi Ogbuefi
  • Atharva Sindwani
  • Zakk Wolovich
  • Megan Wood

Forsyth Family Endowed Scholarship

  • Karys Boeriu

George Will Endowed Scholarship

  • Emily Chen

Gerald P. Johnson Scholarship

  • Gabriel Alpher
  • Andrew Burkey
  • Eli Mitzenmacher

Gerald Robert Bland Scholarship

  • Amelia Benson

Glenn Hanson Scholarship in Visual Communication

  • Knox Mynatt

Glenn Holman Roberts Journalism Scholarship

  • Piotr Fedczuk

Goldie Maxine Cord and Marcus Franklin Cord Scholarship

  • Anthony Geritano

H. Maxine Gladding Greenwood Scholarship

  • Temitola (Temi) Akinyemi

Harold E. and Dorothy Johnson Sortor Journalism Scholarship

  • David Lyle

Harold Gustave Roettger Memorial Award

  • Amanda Barry
  • Mallory Miller
  • Adelyn Mui
  • Layli Nazarova
  • Sydney Populorum
  • Konrad Przeczek
  • Jiaying Zhou

Helen C. and Theodore B. Peterson Scholarship

  • Sarah Slattery

Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Scholars Graduate Fellowship

  • Dwayne Banks
  • Rocio de la Rosa Vasquez
  • Kaniz Fatema
  • Reed Lofstedt

Ian Fleming Foundation Undergraduate Research Scholarship

  • Yufan Du
  • Yidan (Lisa) Hu
  • Yuhan Zhou

Illinois Broadcasters Association Scholarship in Broadcast Journalism

  • Liliana Rodriguez

Iris Chang Journalism Award

  • Katie Dalton

J. Christopher and Robin N. Kaler Scholarship

  • Jonathan Mathew

James Webb Young Travel Fund

  • Jiyeon Chang
  • Kirby Cook
  • Yujin Lee
  • Jiayi (Joy) Wang

Jay Lin Scholarship

  • Valerie Oviedo

Jenny Lenzini Memorial Scholarship

  • Adelyn Mui

Joe Sutton Honorary Scholarship

  • Evelyn (Evy) York

Joel D. and Analee Weisman Scholarship

  • Nathan Gonzalez
  • Megan Krok

John R. Foreman Scholarship

  • Emily Burciaga
  • Ashley Howerter
  • Layli Nazarova
  • Cooper O’Kelly
  • Ella Peterson
  • Fernanda Romero
  • Alyssa Thomas

John H. and Sylvia N. Schacht Memorial Scholarship

  • Paige Walk

John Russell Heitman Fellowship

  • Farah Bassyouni

Jonathan Laxamana Award in Student Filmmaking

  • TBD

Jonathan Laxamana Endowment Fund

  • Kris Modi

Judy Blasdell Bligh Journalism Endowed Scholarship

  • Jonathan Mathew

Jules and Jody Anne Becker Scholarship

  • Eunsung (Anna) Koh

Karen Lucas Petitte Endowed Scholarship in Journalism

  • Brendan Gallian
  • Megan Krok
  • Mallory Miller

Klues Scholars

  • Mia Avila
  • Andrea De La Torre
  • Kamron King
  • Larimar Rivera
  • Alanna Ross
  • Evita Zimmerman

Lulu Kelly Nardine Awards

  • Elissa Eaton
  • Mallory Miller
  • Mary Piacente

Lynne Blanton Student Travel Fund

  • Jiyon Chang
  • Jennifer Cintron
  • Haochen Ji
  • Youngin Kang
  • Ji Won Oh
  • Se Il Park
  • Wei Xiao

Marian and Barney Brody Creative Feature Article Writing Awards in Journalism

  • Adelyn Mui – 1st place – “More than a holiday tradition: Reindeer are a way of life at the Hardy Ranch in Rantoul”
  • Mackenzie (Mack) Jones – 2nd place – “Horses Nap on their Farm”
  • Sijie (Jenny) Lin – 3rd place – “Urbana will explore alternatives to mental health crisis intervention without police involvement”

Marilyn Miller Kaytor Fellowship

  • Colae Eason
  • Claire McDaniel

Marilyn Miller Kaytor Scholarships

  • Felicity Abbott
  • Sonja Aghakhan
  • Chloe Barbarise
  • Amelia Benson
  • Taylor Casey
  • Jean-Luc Charles
  • Kathryn Dalton
  • Edgar Nava Garcia
  • Mackenzie Jones
  • Haley Maser
  • Giuliana Means
  • Kyle Murry
  • Amanda Muscia
  • Layli Nazarova
  • Cooper O’Kelly
  • Jude Panlilio
  • Addison Petrinos
  • Humza Qazi
  • Ford Quaintance
  • Samuel Rink
  • Liliana Rodriguez
  • Penelope Roewe
  • Fernanda Romero
  • Riley Shankman
  • Tristan Starzec
  • Cora Steele
  • Alexandria Tatman
  • Paige Whiteside

Mark L. Brandt Public Engagement Fellows Program Fund

  • Andrei Badulescu
  • Mariah Brooks
  • Ruoxuan (Christina) Chen
  • Kaitlyn Devitt
  • Oluwatomi Dugbo
  • Paige Gaines
  • Megan Harding
  • Kris Modi
  • Adelyn Mui
  • Ektarit (Gus) Nophaket
  • Joy Wu

Mary Fulton Rothermel Fellowship

  • Yi (Sarah) Lin

Maureen Moore Memorial Fellowship in Advertising

  • Seo Jeong Heo
  • Tianxuan (Nikki) Wu

Murray Kalis Awards for Creativity in Advertising

  • Paige Walk – Best Single Ad
  • Christina Kivarkis – Best Portfolio
  • Jacklynn Cartwright – Best Campaign

Nancy Ronald and Ronald L. Hartshorn Internship Fund

  • Felicity Abbott
  • Nathan Gonzalez

Neil and Lynn Gissler Experiential Learning Fund

  • Brooke Babbington
  • Vanessa Benavides
  • Taya Brown
  • Ange Chang
  • Madelyn (Maddy) Collier
  • Yosef Fissahye
  • Gracieanna (Gracie) Gordon
  • Cooper Haynes
  • Alayna Irby
  • Eli Kennel
  • Hailey Kotowski
  • Madeline (Maddie) Kraus
  • Sara Kulesza
  • Mora Lozar
  • Alessandra Lugo
  • Valery Mayorga
  • Odinakachukwu (Odi) Ogbuefi
  • Sarah Page
  • Emma Roedder
  • Kathryn San Roman
  • Sydney Spotts
  • Kambyl Stipes
  • Georgia Sussenbach
  • Claire-Michelle Sweet

Nelio A. Florio and Patricia M. Florio Scholarship in Journalism

  • Sarah Slattery

Paul C. Fulton Scholarship

  • Hailey Kotowski
  • Christopher LaPorte

Paul Schrage-McDonald’s Fellowship in Advertising

  • Seo Jeong Heo

Raymond O. Torr Memorial Scholarship in Journalism

  • Cooper O’Kelly

Richard Hildwein Memorial Photojournalism Award

  • Samuel Yohnka

Richard Tuttle and Lois Marie Orr Endowment Scholarship

  • Grace Bernstein
  • Jaedynn Clark
  • Chloe Plyler
  • Katherine Ratke
  • Samuel Rink
  • Abby Timm
  • Samuel Yohnka

Robert N. and Lorraine M. Wilt Scholarship

  • Mariah Brooks

Robert O. Endres Endowed Internship at Illinois Public Media

  • Stephanie Orellana

Roger Ebert Fellows in Media Criticism

  • Paige Gaines
  • Amir Rehab
  • Jin Wang

S. Watson and Elizabeth S. Dunn Fellowship

  • Kirby Cook

Schlueter Family Endowed Fund for Internships in Journalism

  • Mariana Quezada Marquez

Veronica Pontarelli Toussaint and Dr. Paul Toussaint Scholarship

  • Justin Meyers

Wilkey Scholarship for Print Journalism

  • Olivia Dvorak

Institute of Communications Research welcomes 2025 cohort of doctoral students

Illinois banner with flowers

August 26, 2025

The Institute of Communications Research is excited to announce their newest cohort! Please learn more about the students’ research interests below and join us in welcoming them to the University of Illinois College of Media community this fall. For more information, see full student profiles.

Thomas Farrenkopf

Thomas Farrenkopf earned his master’s degree in cinema and media studies at the University of Southern California. His research interests include new media and digital generosity; film theory, with a focus on Third and Fourth Cinema; Indigenous representation in film;  media and sociology: representation, exploitation, and labor; intersectional approaches to media studies (race, class, gender, sexuality); and critical theory and media’s impact on empathy and social responsibility.

Azam Hasanpour

Azam Hasanpour is a multidisciplinary film and theatre artist with an MA in cinema from the University of Tehran and an MFA in film and media arts from Temple University. With over eight years of focused experience in filmmaking, she brings a rich background in both artistic practice and academic research. Her research interests include digital humanities, visual arts, mixed media, documentary studies, and critical visual and media studies.

Xiaohua (Anthea) He

Xiaohua (Anthea) He earned her MSc in communication science from the University of Amsterdam, where she focused on persuasive communication. Her research interests include persuasion and information behaviors, with a particular focus on how consumers process and respond to health-related advertising crafted with persuasive strategies. 

Aiman Kazybayev

Aiman Kazybayeva previously served as dean of the School of Management at Almaty Management University (AlmaU). Before that, she was program leader for the marketing educational program and chair of the Department of Management, Marketing, and Logistics. She also founded and continues to head the Neuromarketing Laboratory at AlmaU, combining research and practice in consumer behavior studies. Her research focuses on advertising, consumer behavior, neuromarketing, and biometrics. She applies methods such as eye-tracking, facial recognition, and GSR to study how consumers process advertising messages and make decisions.

Seoyoung (Selene) Kim

Seoyoung (Selene) Kim earned her MA in media and communication from Korea University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of consumer behavior and human–AI interaction. She examines how people interact with AI and how it shapes their decision-making, particularly in the music entertainment industry and other media contexts.

Luciana Salviano Marques da Silva

Luciana Salviano Marques da Silva earned her master’s in media studies at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. Her research interests include digital journalism, artificial intelligence, television studies, media literacy, quality television, and public journalism.

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Seo-Young (Selene) Kim

Seoyoung (Selene) Kim

Email: sk217@illinois.edu

Research Interests

Seo-Young (Selene) Kim is a doctoral student at the Institute of Communications Research (ICR). Her research interests lie at the intersection of consumer behavior and human–AI interaction. She examines how people interact with AI and how it shapes their decision-making, particularly in the music entertainment industry. 

Prior to joining ICR, Selene worked at CJ ENM as a strategist in Music IP Marketing and Artist Business. She earned an M.A. in Media & Communication from Korea University and dual degrees in International Studies (B.A.) and Business Administration (B.B.A.) from the Catholic University of Korea.

Recent Publications/Presentations

  • Lee, S. K., Park, H., & Kim, S. Y. (2024). “Gender and Task Effects of Human-Machine Communication on Trusting a Korean Intelligent Virtual Assistant,” Behaviour & Information Technology, 1-20. 
  • Kim, S. Y., & Jung, Y. (2023). “Development of Semantic Differential Scales for Artificial Intelligence Agents,” The International Journal of Social Robotics, 15(7), 1155-1167.

Courses Taught

  • ADV 360: Innovations in Advertising

Awards and Honors

  • Bart A. Cummings Advertising Gift Fund, University of Illinois, 2025
  • Excellence Prize, Student-led Creative Research, Smart Media Service Research Center, 2021

Related Links

DEV College of Media
119 Gregory Hall
810 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-2350