Kirby Cook (MS ’21, advertising), a doctoral student at the Institute of Communications Research in the College of Media, won third place and a $200 award in the annual Image of Research competition, a multidisciplinary event celebrating the diversity and breadth of student research at UIUC. The graduate student edition of the competition is organized by the Scholarly Commons of the University Library and the Graduate College.
Cook won for her image “The Identity Conflict: Lifelong Journey of a Korean Adoptee.”
“Art and qualitative research come together in this depiction of a lifelong identity journey for Korean adoptees,” Cook wrote in her description. “Beyond the boundaries of prescribed methods, data collection, and formulaic approaches, this collage represents the abstract complexities of research and what lies beyond charts and tables. How does one capture the essence of an individual’s personal history; their pain, their future? While my research focuses primarily on material items belonging to Korean adoptees and their meanings, I recognize that there is more behind their stories.”
As the first advertising education program in the country, the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising continues to pioneer innovative learning experiences in the classroom.
This academic year, students not only worked on research-based ad campaigns for real brands, but they also learned resources and tools from Amazon Ads, gaining professional certification in addition to course credit.
At the end of fall semester, students in ADV 392 presented their ad campaign results to their real clients over Zoom as well as to an in-person team from Amazon Ads and Global Overview.
In Fall 2021, the Sandage Department of Advertising developed a new course, ADV 392: Industry Immersion Experiential Learning, in a collaborative relationship with Amazon Ads Education Alliance,Global Overview, and real-world clients. In the course taught by Steve Hall, senior lecturer in advertising, students learned ecommerce and Amazon advertising solutions and then put that into practice through integrated campaigns that were funded by Global Overview, which also provided the brand clients.
Throughout the process, students had access to Amazon Ads and Global Overview professionals, including account executives, account managers, campaign managers, creative managers, strategists, advertising managers, and operations officers. Students learned about their advertising responsibilities and got to ask questions at networking events. At the semester’s end, student teams pitched their presentations to their clients. The class has directly led to interviews and full-time employment at both companies.
The course will be offered again in Fall 2022, called ADV 392: Advertising Immersion—Amazon Advertising Certification and Global Overview Campaign Course.
“Our collaboration with the Amazon Ads Education Alliance has helped our students develop and strengthen valuable practical knowledge and skills in an experiential learning environment,” said Professor Mike Yao, head of the Sandage Department of Advertising. “We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work with Amazon Ads to discover talents and future leaders, and we look forward to expanding the relationship and future collaborations.”
Amazon Ads and Global Overview employees discussed job roles and career opportunities, and answered students’ questions at an informational networking event last fall.
Ayesha Baweja, a sophomore in computer science + advertising, said it was exciting to work on a real campaign for a large skincare company.
“Working directly in the industry is an experience that people in other majors may not get to have in the classroom,” Baweja said.
“It’s crazy to think that, as a student, [I] was working with a real budget,” said Ethan Fazio, a junior in advertising. “Being able to execute that and put it into numerics and show the client back the return that they were getting on their ad spend—it really showed me how valuable it is to be working with a client.”
Due to the success of the pilot class, student interest, and the department’s ability to respond quickly as media evolves, two new courses have been created for Fall 2022—ADV 400: Amazon Advertising Experience, and ADV 490: Advanced Ecommerce Advertising.
In ADV 400: Amazon Advertising Experience, students will work with a local Amazon e-tailer to grow its business. Working in teams and supervised by a faculty member, students will gain hands-on experience in designing, planning, and executing advertising campaigns for an ecommerce enterprise.
In ADV 490: Advanced Ecommerce Advertising, students will explore conceptual and practical issues in ecommerce advertising and marketing. The course will analyze topics such as online shopping behavior, interface and consumer experience design, brand development and management for e-tailers, marketing and business analytics, and ecommerce advertising strategies.
Classwork by students in JOUR 215: Multimedia Reporting, taught by Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism, was featured on CU-CitizenAccess.org in May. The journalism students produced stories in Fall 2021 about how the nation’s pandemic-induced labor shortage has affected local businesses.
Farrah Anderson, a sophomore in journalism, wrote the article that gave an overview of the projects. Students interviewed people from the Champaign-Urbana businesses Esquire Lounge, Cracked, World Harvest, Black Dog, Maize Mexican Grill, and Jarling’s Custard Cup, as well as a local family seeking care for a child with disabilities. Anderson’s story about childcare was featured additionally on Illinois Newsroom from Illinois Public Media in May.
Update on the winners of the 2022 UIUC Student Film Festival:
Jury Award: Joanna Raimo, for her film “A Tint of Red.” Among the jury’s comments was an appreciation of the film’s formal command and creative use of genre tropes.
Audience Award for favorite film: “Bodies of Water” by Ryan Leshock
World-Building Award for favorite film with a message of social justice: “Another Day” by Michael Leshock
Award for Favorite TikTok: “What Song” by Michael Leshock
Students in MACS 464: Film Festivals organized the first in-person festival since the pandemic caused the class to move the annual event online two years ago. The UIUC Student Film Festival, held April 30 in the Knight Auditorium at Spurlock Museum, drew 200+ attendees in person and 200+ views on the livestream channel.
Throughout Spring 2022, students organized, promoted, and produced this event featuring short films of all genres created by undergraduates, filmmaking clubs, and production classes across the University of Illinois campus. Watch the film fest recording here.
The UIUC Student Film Fest is sponsored by the Department of Media & Cinema Studies.
Below, see photos of the audience, production crew, and filmmakers. (Photos courtesy of Jon Knipp, lecturer in media and cinema studies, and instructor for this course.)
In Spring 2020, seniors in MACS 480: Advanced Filmmaking, taught by Victor Font, lecturer in media and cinema studies, collaborated with a Department of Theatre class (Acting for the Camera). Unfortunately, as the pandemic unfolded, students had to halt filming in their second day of production, leaving this movie unfinished. Below, watch their final project, featuring nine minutes of two scenes from the movie The Invitation.
What does it look like behind the scenes? Get a sneak peek here:
Giang V. Pham, a doctoral student at the Institute of Communications Research who is graduating with the College of Media Class of 2022, has had a paper accepted for publication in the journal PLOS ONE.
The paper address the idea of “flow” states and how there can be negative sides to flow in media use.
Abstract: “Flow (state of intense focus) during media use has been largely considered a desirable experience, with technologies developed to maximize the chance of encountering flow in computer-mediated environments. However, the total absorption of attention due to flow could be problematic in contexts where the user has multiple predetermined goals, and engaging with the flow-inducing media could cost them resources that may be otherwise devoted to other goals. When flow imposes a cost on the user’s goal performance, it may also reduce their post-experience gratification with the flow-inducing media. The present study proposes a novel theoretical framework to begin understanding the potential cost of flow in media use with supporting evidence from two survey and vignette studies (N = 235 and N = 245). Its findings will extend human-computer interaction research by highlighting the double-edged impact that flow might have on media users’ larger goal performance and downstream well-being.”
Kat Tian, a PhD student at the Institute of Communications Research (ICR), has accepted a data science internship at IBM’s New York office this summer. The position involves intensive hands-on-experience with data analysis across a variety of business cases. Senior data science interns will deploy machine-learning models built using various platforms and handle data at scale, and make recommendations for managers with real business impact. At the internship, she will work with large, untidy datasets and deliver business solutions supported by statistical research.
In her doctoral program, Tian has been doing research on cross-cultural communication processes in the marketing and advertising context by applying big data analytics and machine learning techniques. At ICR, her advisors are advertising faculty members Mike Yao, the Sandage Department of Advertising interim head, and Michelle Nelson, associate dean for research and creative endeavor.
This year, the center appointed 11 CAS Associates, one CAS Fellow, and four CAS Beckman Fellows—the distinction as a CAS Beckman Fellow recognizes outstanding younger fellow candidates who have made distinctive scholarly contributions. The appointment grants faculty one semester of teaching release time to pursue an individual scholarly or creative project. Fellows also participate in a yearly roundtable discussion of research interests and are invited to offer a future CAS presentation.
Su will work on a project called “Conversational Agents for Correction of Health Misinformation.”
She plans to build a comprehensive knowledge base on the debunking mechanisms and efficacy of digital-messaging tools known as conversational agents. Conversational agents, such as chatbots, are increasingly prevalent in misinformation-correction efforts.
Based on the project’s findings, Su’s goal is to support the development and refinement of new digital technologies that can effectively correct health misinformation—”a task with strong practical and scientific importance in this age of digital misinformation,” she said.
Su’s research examines the interplay between media and society, with a particular focus on how social media and new technologies influence human communication and social behaviors in the context of scientific and health topics, as well as brand communication. Her recent research examines the effects of humor, social media, and new technologies on science communication.
The Institute of Communications Research congratulates the degree candidates for a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in communications and media! For 2021-2022, the degree candidates, their dissertations, and their advisors are:
Susmita Das
“Speaking the International Language: A Transnational History of the Indian Advertising Industry, 1955-1969” Advisor: Professor Amanda Ciafone
Xiaohan Hu
“Exploring the role of control in digital advertising effectiveness” Advisor: Professor Kevin Wise
Morten Stinus Kristensen
“Discourse, Platforms, and Racialization: Danish Muslims Navigating Hegemonic Danishness on Social Media” Advisor: Professor Angharad Valdivia
Giang Vu Hang Pham
“The Cognitive, Motivational, and Affective Cost of Flow Experiences in Media Use” Advisor: Professor Brittany Duff
Yilin Ren
“How Do Tactile Interactions and Movement Orientations Affect Information Processing of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) on Mobile Devices” Advisor: Professor Kevin Wise
Ann Elisabeth Strahle
“Flag Waving Doesn’t Help when the Bullets are Coming Down the Line: Dialectical Tensions of Religious Communication in the National Guard Chaplaincy” Advisor: Professor EmeritusClifford Christians
Yanyun Wang
“Effects of Augmented Reality on Risk Perception of E-cigarettes for Young Adults: From the Perspective of Construal Level Theory” Advisor: Professor Mike Yao
Kerry Bernice Wilson
“Black Moms Matter: Competing Discourses of Black Motherhood in the Age of Black Lives Matter” Advisor: Professor Isabel Molina-Guzmán
University of Illinois alum Eli Murray (BS ’15, journalism), investigative reporter at the Tampa Bay Times, won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting, along with fellow reporters Corey G. Johnson and Rebecca Woolington. (Photo by Boyzell Hosey | Tampa Bay Times.)
While meeting with the family of a former battery recycling plant manager whose son had lead poisoning, a Pulitzer Prize-winning story crystallized for Eli Murray (BS ’15, journalism), investigative reporter at the Tampa Bay Times.
The family had been suffering because their son was born with a lead level that creeped higher each year.
“The lead could only be coming from the factory where [the] husband worked and it had driven a wedge into their family and put them at odds with each other,” Murray said. “I could see what was at stake for this family and the hundreds of other workers’ families.”
Murray, and fellow investigative reporters Corey G. Johnson and Rebecca Woolington, received the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting for their series “Poisoned,” described as “a compelling exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents.”
“The investigation by the Tampa Bay Times into dangerous conditions at a lead smelter spurred immediate improvements for health and safety,” said Pulitzer Prize Board member Nicole Caroll. “This newsroom changed workers’ lives, and its reporting shows the critical importance and impact of strong local journalism.”
Murray said he’ll never forget visiting that family: “Every day since it has been a driving source of motivation to shine light into these dark corners to tell these workers’ stories and hopefully effect change.”
The investigative team had spent almost two years gathering data and reporting before the first article in the series was published in 2021. Murray spent months building a database from thousands of pages of PDFs and analyzing the results.
After their Pulitzer Prize was announced on May 9, the Tampa Bay Times reporters shared remarks. Murray acknowledged some University of Illinois journalism faculty members for helping him on his career path. (See video.)
“I wanted to thank a few of my other mentors: Brant Houston, Stretch Ledford, and Jennifer Follis, who encouraged me to follow the data and the programming side of things and to find a way to make that work in journalism and in telling great stories,” Murray said.
Murray was drawn to data journalism because of the ability to tell a story visually that resonates with audiences.
“Eli was an excellent, dedicated student who was a natural at data journalism and great to work with,” said Brant Houston, Knight Chair of Investigative Reporting and professor of journalism. “I am so pleased, but not too surprised, with all his accomplishments and the recognition he has received. I expect there will be much more to come.”
“Beyond Eli’s obvious and prodigious talents as an investigative reporter and data journalist, I think it’s important to recognize that talent can take one only so far down the road to success,” said Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism. “What brought Eli to this place of international recognition are the same humanistic qualities that made him an outstanding student and vital collaborator here at Illinois—a thirst for knowledge, a restless mind, an unflinching commitment to the truth, and—I don’t know a better way to say it—a heart of gold. These qualities would have carried Eli to great things no matter his chosen field. The people of Tampa Bay, and beyond, are indeed fortunate that he found his calling in journalism.”
Murray was hired at the Tampa Bay Times as a data reporter following an internship there in 2015. As a journalism student at Illinois, he received the Glenn Hanson Scholarship in Visual Communications from the College of Media. He also worked at The Daily Illini as a reporter covering Urbana city government during his junior year, and became a web developer in charge of building the Salary Guide during his senior year.
Giang V. Pham, a doctoral student at the Institute of Communications Research who is graduating with the College of Media Class of 2022, has had a paper accepted for publication in the journal PLOS ONE.
Leona Yi-Fan Su,
