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Colleen King

Colleen King


Clinical Assistant Professor
Director, Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media

Affiliations

  • Department of Journalism

Background

Colleen King is a clinical assistant professor of journalism and the inaugural director of the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media. 

She comes to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign following 17 years in television news that culminated in her tenure as executive producer of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams. Under King’s leadership, The 11th Hour became the number one cable news program at 11 p.m., labeled “a success” by The Washington Post and “a must-watch program for political junkies and the Beltway crowd” by The Los Angeles Times. 

King also produced MSNBC election programming and breaking news coverage anchored by Williams. She covered live events including the Parkland school shooting, the Trump-Putin summit, testimony by former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller on Capitol Hill, Supreme Court confirmation hearings, hurricanes, and other breaking news. 

King has covered four presidential and five congressional midterm elections. She has booked and produced interviews with presidents, presidential candidates, and top lawmakers. King has also produced live coverage of the Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire primaries, party conventions, and presidential inaugurations.

King began at MSNBC as a booking producer for Hardball with Chris Matthews. There, she secured and produced interviews with top politicians and celebrities including Joe Biden, John McCain, Colin Powell, Sandra Day O’Connor, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, and Robin Williams. 

At MSNBC, she also served as senior producer for Morning Joe, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and other network programming. 

King began her television news career at CBS News in Washington. She also worked as an associate producer and booker for the Fox News Channel prior to joining MSNBC. 

King received a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication with a concentration in journalism education from Kent State University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political communication from The George Washington University. 

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Colleen King

Contact

cck@illinois.edu

Carrie Wilson-Brown

Carrie Wilson-Brown

Senior Lecturer

Affiliations

  • Department of Media & Cinema Studies
  • Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

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Carrie Wilson-Brown

Contact

carrieaw@illinois.edu

Thomas Guback

Blue silhouette

Professor Emeritus, Institute of Communications Research

Education

  • B.A., Rutgers University, 1958 
  • M.S., University of Illinois, 1959 
  • Ph. D., University of Illinois, 1964
  • M. Div. Nashotah House Theological Seminary, 2000

Course Specialties

  • Film Studies 
  • Political Economy of Communications

Research and Creative Endeavor

Researcher, writer, on-air host of Silver Screen, WILL-TV, 1987-1997.

Contact

meadow49670@gmail.com

Angela Aguayo

Angela Aguayo

Associate Professor

Affiliations

  • Department of Media & Cinema Studies
  • Institute of Communications Research

Education

  • PhD in Communications, 2005, University of Texas, Austin

Course Specialties

  • Introduction to Documentary 
  • New Media, Culture and Society 
  • Gender and Popular Culture 
  • Documentary and Social Change

Research and Creative Endeavor

Angela J. Aguayo is Associate Professor in the Department of Media & Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Angela’s scholarly research and production practice reflect an interdisciplinary focus on documentary, media studies, rhetoric, critical and cultural studies. She is focused on the possibilities for documentary to engage the process of social change, with the specific attention to collective identification and the new media technologies used in conjunction with the genre to mobilize participatory media publics. As a scholar-media artist specializing in participatory and engaged cinema, her most recent book, Documentary Resistance: Social Change and Participatory Media (Oxford University Press, 2019) investigates the political impact of documentary practice. Aguayo is also an award-winning director and producer of documentary shorts utilized in community engagement campaigns, exhibited at museums, and viewed at film festivals around the world, including such prestigious sites as Anthology Film Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago and Harvard University. Most recently, Aguayo is the founding Director of the Illinois Community Media Project, establishing efforts to support media production opportunities for underserved communities across the state of Illinois. She has also served as Acting Director of the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies.

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Angela Aguayo

Contact

ajaguayo@illinois.edu

Jonathan Knipp

Jon Knipp

Senior Lecturer

Affiliations

  • Department of Media & Cinema Studies
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Jon Knipp

Contact

knipp@illinois.edu

217-244-5692

Mike Yao

Professor
Director, Institute of Communications Research

Affiliations

  • Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
  • Institute of Communications Research 
  • Gies College of Business
  • College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Education

  • Ph.D. Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara 
  • B.A. Psychology & Film Studies double majors, University of California, Santa Barbara

Course Specialties

  • Online privacy 
  • Technology mediated communication 
  • Technology and advertising 
  • Programmatic advertising

Research and Creative Endeavor

Mike Yao’s research focuses on the social and psychological impacts of interactive digital media. He conducts research and writes on a variety of topics such as online behavior, digital literacy, and computer-mediated communication. His current interest is in how users perceive and manage personal boundaries on social media. Specifically, he examines people’s attitudes, beliefs and self-protective behaviors related to online privacy from a psychosocial perspective by considering the influence of cognitive appraisal, social norm, and individual differences. A second area of Mike’s active research is the psychological impacts of digital media use. He examined the influence of various interactive media, such as video games and social media, on users’ online and offline social behavior. He is currently trying to extend this line of research to developing an integrated theory of digitally mediated human behavior.

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Contact

mzyao@illinois.edu

217-300-2148

Marisa Peacock

Marisa Peacock

Senior Lecturer

Affiliations

  • Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

Education

  • MFA in Design for Responsible Innovation (DRI), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, expected graduation 2027
  • MALS in American Studies, 2005, Georgetown University
  • BA in Psychology, 2001, Mount Holyoke College

Course Specialties

  • Sandage Project / Capstone Course
  • Digital Content and Social Media Management
  • AI and Advertising
  • Writing and Public Relations
  • Social Media and Personal Branding

Background

Marisa Peacock is the founder and chief strategist of The Strategic Peacock, helping organizations implement effective social media strategies. As a senior lecturer, she teaches the Sandage Project, digital content and social media management and AI and Advertising. She also leads the Social Media Lab, where advertising students gain hands-on experience, build portfolios, and connect with employers—benefiting both businesses and emerging talent.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Marisa is currently pursuing an MFA in Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where her research focuses on integrating inclusive design in advertising education by empowering faculty to foster digital inclusivity.

Marisa regularly presents at marketing and media conferences such as the Home Furnishings Association, Seattle Interactive, Illinois Web Con, and ConvergeSouth. Her presentations focus on social media, customer experience, and strategies for businesses of all sizes to enhance their online presence.

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Marisa Peacock

Contact

marisacp@illinois.edu

217-333-0182

Ewa Maslowska

Ewa Maslowska

Associate Professor

Affiliations

  • Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
  • Institute of Communications Research 
  • Informatics 
  • Center for Social & Behavioral Science

Education

  • PhD, University of Amsterdam (Persuasive Communication) 
  • MA, Jagiellonian University (Psychology)

Course Specialties

  • Computational Advertising
  • Consumer Insight
  • Persuasion

Background

Ewa holds a Ph.D. in Communication Science from the University of Amsterdam and an M.A. in Psychology from Jagiellonian University and completed postdoctoral research at Northwestern University. Ewa has been published in International Journal of Advertising, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Marketing Management, Decision Support Systems, and others.

Awards

  • Digital Communication Methods Lab (University of Amsterdam, Research Priority Area) research grant 2019. Project: Improving the measurement of consumers’ exposure to online content. 
  • Marketing Science Institute research grant 2018. Project: The effects of trait-based personalization in social media. 
  • Best Paper Award International Journal of Advertising 2017 
  • Best Paper Award Journal of Marketing Management 2016 
  • Top faculty paper award Communication and Technology Division AEJMC Conference 2015, San Francisco, CA 
  • Best paper nominee ICORIA conference 2018, Valencia, Spain 
  • Best paper nominee ICORIA conference 2017, Ghent, Belgium 

Research and Creative Endeavor

Ewa’s research investigates how we interact with digital platforms, focusing on how communication design and personalization influence persuasion and platform (dis)engagement. Additionally, she analyzes the impact of deceptive content, such as fake reviews, on consumer decision-making. Using a multi-method approach, integrating experiments, psychophysiology, digital-trace data, and qualitative techniques, she aims to understand the psychological impact of digital communication and inform frameworks that protect user autonomy in an increasingly opaque media landscape.

Select Publications

Maslowska, E., Segijn, C. M., Vakeel, K. A., & Viswanathan, V. (2019). How consumers attend to online reviews: an eye-tracking and network analysis approach. International Journal of Advertising, 1-25. 

Kim, S. J., Maslowska, E., & Tamaddoni, A. (2019). The paradox of (dis)trust in sponsorship disclosure: The characteristics and effects of sponsored online consumer reviews. Decision 
Support Systems, 116, 114-124. 

Malthouse E.C., Maslowska, E., Franks, J. (2018). Understanding programmatic TV advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 37(5), 769-784 

Viswanathan, V., Malthouse, E.C., Maslowska, E., Hoornaert, S., & van den Peol, D. (2018). Dynamics between Social Media Engagement, Firm-Generated Content, Live and Time-Shifted TV Viewing. Journal of Service Management, 29(3), 378-398 

Maslowska, E., Malthouse, E.C., & Bernritter, S.F. (2017). Too good to be true: The role of online reviews’ features in probability to buy. International Journal of Advertising, 36(1), 142-163 

Maslowska, E. Malthouse, E.C., & Viswanathan, V. (2017). Do customer reviews drive purchase decisions? The moderating roles of review exposure and price. Decision Support Systems, 98, 1–9 

Maslowska, E., Malthouse, E. C., & Collinger, T. (2016). The Customer Engagement Ecosystem. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(5-6), 469-501 

Maslowska, E. Smit, E.G., & van den Putte, B. (2016) It Is All in the Name: A Study of Consumers’ Responses to Personalized Communication. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 16(1), 74-85 

Maslowska, E., Smit, E.G., & Van den Putte, B. (2013). Assessing the cross-cultural applicability of tailored advertising: A comparative study between the Netherlands and Poland. International Journal of Advertising, 32(4), 487-510. 

Maslowska, E., Van den Putte., B, & Smit, E. G. (2011). The effectiveness of personalized e-mail newsletters and the role of personal characteristics. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14, 765-770. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2011.0050.

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Ewa Maslowska

Contact

ehm@illinois.edu

217-244-1688

Christopher Ball

Christopher Ball

Assistant Professor

Affiliations

  • Department of Journalism
  • Institute of Communications Research

Education

  • PhD in Media and Information Studies, Michigan State University
  • MS in Applied Sociology, Clemson University
  • BA in Sociology, Augusta State University

Course Specialties

  • Interactive Media & You
  • Augmented and Virtual Reality
  • Research Methods in Journalism

Background

Dr. Ball is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism. Before joining the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he was a research assistant and instructor while working on his PhD at Michigan State University. During this time, he worked extensively on various grant funded research projects and he taught a number of cutting-edge courses. In addition to his PhD, he also obtained graduate certifications in both Educational Technology as well as Serious Game Design and Research. Before beginning his doctoral studies, he was employed as a research associate at Clemson University where he designed and tested educational virtual world programs.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Dr. Ball’s research interests involve the influence of new technologies on society and how these technologies can be studied and harnessed for research, education, and outreach purposes. More specifically, his research focuses on the use of interactive media and technologies such as video games, virtual worlds, and virtual reality to foster pro-social outcomes and experiential learning across the life course.

Dr. Ball has published collaborative research spanning a multitude of technology-related topic areas, demographic populations, and research methodologies. As a result, he has been published in various top-tier journals such as Information, Communication & Society; Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking; the Journal of Applied Gerontology; the Journal of Medical Internet Research Mental Health; and Games and Culture.

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Christopher Ball

Contact

drball@illinois.edu

217-300-0185

Alison Davis

Alison Davis

Senior Lecturer

Affiliations

  • Department of Journalism

Education

  • M.S. Journalism, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
  • B.S. Journalism,  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Specialties

  • Documentary Production
  • Writing
  • Video Production

Background

Alison Davis has been producing national documentaries for over two decades. Her programs have received numerous awards including seven regional Emmy Awards and over 20 Emmy nominations.

Davis produced documentaries for the Big Ten Network when she joined Illinois’ Division of Intercollegiate Athletics / Public Affairs in April of 2008. Before that she worked at WILL-TV (PBS) where she was the longtime producer and host of Prairie Fire, a cultural magazine series about the people and places of central Illinois.

Awards

Davis won a 2019 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-America Emmy award for Illinois Artists: Endalyn Taylor, produced for the Big Ten Network. She won a 2017 Mid-America Emmy award for writing The Game Changer, the story of disability rights pioneer Tim Nugent. In 2015 she won an Emmy for writing the documentary Carlos Montezuma: Changing Is not Vanishing. She was awarded her first regional Emmy in 1999 for her documentary, Walter Burley Griffin: In His Own Right about the talented, but overlooked Illinois architect.

Her documentary Against the Wind, the story of wheelchair athlete Jean Driscoll’s attempt to become the first athlete to win seven consecutive Boston Marathons, was named best Television Documentary in 1997 by American Women in Radio and Television. She was one of 20 producers selected to attend the 2001 WGBH Boston Producers Workshop, where she participated in extensive hands-on training with some of television’s most experienced content creators.

Davis’s other productions include the nationally distributed Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency and Gold Star Mothers: Pilgrimage of Remembrance. She was also nominated for an Emmy for writing Ten Sisters: A True Story.

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Alison Davis

Contact

adwood1@illinois.edu

217-244-7433

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