Category: Institute of Communications Research

Yiran Gao

Yiran Gao

Email: yirang3@illinois.edu

Research Interests

Yiran Gao is a doctoral student at the Institute of Communications Research. Her interdisciplinary research interests lie at the intersection of media studies, critical cultural studies, science and technology studies, and global studies. Her current research focuses on the roles and the impact of digital media on the formation of digital public sphere at a transnational level. She has presented her works at the top conferences in the fields, including International Communication Association (ICA), International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), and Cultural Studies Association (CSA). 

As a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Media & Cinema Studies, Yiran has consistently been ranked as excellent by her students, based on Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES), and received the 2022 Teaching Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the College of Media.

Academic Roles

Teaching Assistant    

What Most People Don’t Know about Me

I am obsessed with collecting creative fridge magnets when traveling, one magnet a place.

Anirban Mukhopadhyay

Anirban Mukhopadhyay

Email: anirban3@illinois.edu

Research Interests

I am interested in the history of communication/media technologies; media and space, race and media, resistance and social movements; media policies and critical information studies.  I am intrigued by how media affect cultural changes in the public sphere, build cultural citizenship and (re)produce frameworks of everyday life. I am driven by questions of “who has the power?”; “how power is manifested” through mediated systems and how the trajectory of (inter)national cultural, economic, political, technological forces get shaped by global communication network.    

Research Keywords

Media history, space, social movements, policy, public sphere, critical theory, information studies

What Most People Don’t Know about Me

I am obsessed with French impressionist painters; especially Monet and Renoir.

Tingyu Chen

Tingyu Chen

Email: tingyuc3@illinois.edu

Research Interests

Tingyu Chen is a Ph.D candidate at the Institute of Communications Research with a focus on cinema and media studies. Her research interests include gender and screen cultures, women’s cinema, Chinese cinema, VFX, globalization and cultural modernity. She is also interested in the application of digital tools in humanities research. One of her current explorations is videographic criticism, through which she explores the different ways in which videographic work could complement and combine with moving image studies.

Recent Publications/Presentations

“The Use of Special Effects and Its Political Implication in Main Melody Blockbusters,” presentation at Society of Cinema and Media Studies 2024 (Boston, MA)

Courses Taught

  • MACS 260 Film Production: Teaching assistant 
  • MACS 150 Introduction to Digital Media Production: Teaching assistant 
  • MACS 101 Introduction to Media: Instructor of record 
  • MACS 100 Introduction to Popular TV & Movies: Teaching assistant

Louvins Pierre

Louvins Pierre

Assistant Professor

Affiliations

  • Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
  • Institute of Communications Research

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Connecticut (Communication) 
  • M.A., University of Connecticut (Communication) 
  • B.A., Tuskegee University (Communication) 
  • A.A., The Honors College at Miami Dade College (Mass Communication)

Course Specialties

  • Consumer Insights

Background

Louvins earned his graduate degrees from the University of Connecticut after first receiving his bachelor’s and associate’s from Tuskegee University and Miami Dade College, respectively. So far his research has appeared in Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, Journal of Marketing Communications, Journal of Promotion Management, and The Journal of Social Media in Society. Louvins is also a frequent ad hoc reviewer for the International Journal of Advertising and Journal of Interactive Advertising. As an educator, he has taught courses on a wide range of topics, including consumer insights, advertising fundamentals, principles of public relations, public relations writing, communication theory, media literacy, intercultural communication, and public speaking.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Louvins’ scholarship focuses on advancing theory and providing implications for practitioners. His research examines how brands, through advertising, influence consumer perceptions and decision-making. He applies advertising, marketing, and consumer psychology theories to understand consumer behavior and inform marketing strategies in various contexts such as purpose advertising, social media, and digital marketing.

Overall, Louvins’ areas of expertise are 1) how aspects of consumers’ identity and identification with brands or advertising spokespersons factor into their brand and advertising evaluations, and 2) how consumers’ knowledge of persuasion tactics influences their processing of advertising information and brand perceptions. 

Theoretically, Louvins’ studies are often, although not exclusively, informed by social identity theory, persuasion knowledge model, dual processing models, and narrative transportation theory. Methodologically, he is most familiar with experiments, surveys, and corresponding quantitative data analysis techniques. 

Louvins’ ongoing research projects are broadly investigating how the evolving nature of digital media and emerging technology (e.g., artificial intelligence) can be leveraged to help organizations better resonate with consumers’ sense of identity and knowledge structures to produce favorable consumer attitudinal perceptions and decision-making.

Related Links

Louvins Pierre

Contact

lpierre@illinois.edu

Cassandra L.C. Troy

Cassandra Troy

Assistant Professor

Affiliations

  • Department of Journalism
  • Institute of Communications Research

Education

  • PhD in Mass Communications, 2024, Pennsylvania State University 
  • MS in Communication, 2018, Purdue University 
  • Graduate Certificate in Strategic Communication Management, 2018, Purdue University 
  • BFA in Communication Arts, 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University 
  • BA in Foreign Language (German), 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University 
  • Certificate in Product Innovation, 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University

Course Specialties

  • JOUR 460: Environmental Journalism

Background

Dr. Troy is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism. Prior to earning her PhD, she worked in nonprofit and sustainability communication. These professional experiences gave her the opportunity to work on a range of educational and strategic communication efforts, such as explanatory signage design, newsletter writing, social media management, and crisis communication planning. That same work also impressed upon her the urgency and complexity involved in communicating environmental issues like climate change to a wide range of audiences. Ultimately, a desire to better understand how to communicate about pressing environmental topics for constructive societal impact motivated her to pursue a PhD at Penn State and a career in academia.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Dr. Troy’s research focuses broadly on strategic environmental communication. Much of her work focuses on climate change in particular and she is specifically interested in examining positive or solutions-oriented environmental messaging as well as psychological drivers and inhibitors of collective pro-environmental and pro-social action in response to such content. She conducts both quantitative and qualitative research.

Related Links

Cassandra Troy

Contact

clctroy@illinois.edu

217-300-1068

Guolan Yang

Guolan Yang

Assistant Professor

Affiliations

  • Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
  • Institute of Communications Research

Education

  • Ph.D. in Mass Communications, Pennsylvania State University 

Course Specialties

  • ADV 310: Introduction to Public Relations

Background

Yang joined the Sandage Department of Advertising in the fall of 2024. She has been actively engaged in academia, teaching a diverse range of advertising and public relations courses. Yang serves as a committee member on the American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Research Committee and as a reviewer for several advertising and marketing journals. She is on the editorial review board of the International Journal of Advertising.

Research and Creative Endeavor

By and large, Yang’s research interest focuses on persuasive communication with a keen focus on social media advertising and influencer marketing. Specifically, Yang investigates how message appeals (e.g., storytelling, humor, comparison) can be consolidated with innovative features of digital technologies to enhance the effectiveness of persuasive communication. Additionally, Yang’s work examines the role of sponsorship disclosures in how consumers react to covert advertising messages on social media. 

Yang has recently published research in the International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Media Psychology, Journal of Health Communication, Corporate Communications, and more.

Related Links

Guolan Yang

Contact

gly3@illinois.edu

217-300-8603

Jiyeon Chang

Jiyeon Chang
Jiyeon Chang

Email: jiyeonc2@illinois.edu

Research Interests

Jiyeon is a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Communications Research. Jiyeon studies media psychology and technology-mediated communication. Her research explores cognitive frameworks to understand perceptions that influence information processing and online behaviors. 

Prior to joining ICR, Jiyeon received her M.A. and B.A. in communication and media from the Ewha Womans University in Korea.

Courses Taught

  • JOUR 101: Interactive Media & You 
  • MACS 100: Intro to Popular TV & Movies

Haochen Ji

Haochen Ji
Haochen Ji

Email: hji10@illinois.edu

Research Interests

Haochen is a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Communication Research. Before joining ICR, she earned her master’s degree in communication from Northwestern University and her bachelor’s degree in public relations with a minor in applied statistics from Boston University. Her primary academic interests focus on the impact of emerging technologies on communication, aiming to promote human-centered technology designs and proactively shaping positive digital communication. She is passionate about exploring how technologies like AI, video games, and interactive media influence people’s online behaviors and psychological well-being. She is also highly interested in utilizing mixed methods, especially computational approaches, to investigate specific problems.

Related Links

Kendra Williams

Kendra Williams
Kendra Williams

Email: klw6@illinois.edu

Research Interests

  • Critical Cultural Studies 
  • Black Popular Culture 
  • Television & Film 
  • Race & Media Representation

Recent Publications/Presentations

Williams, K., McKoy, C. D. (2023, November 17). Abbott Elementary: Utilizing Critical Communication Pedagogy, Intercultural Communication, and Social Justice within the Classroom to Decenter Whiteness. National Communication Association, National Harbor, MD. 

Williams, K. (2023, April, 13). If Beale Street Could Talk: Representation, Colorism & Black Womanhood. Southern States Communication Association Conference, Tampa, FL.

Duo Wang

Duo Wang
Duo Wang

Email: dw36@illinois.edu

Research Interests

Duo Wang is a researcher and entrepreneur committed to exploring the convergence of mixed reality and generative AI for the next generation of immersive interaction and 3D storytelling. Research interests include:

  • Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
  • Human-AI Communication in Virtual Environments
  • XR+AI Simulation in Healthcare
  • Generative AI in Immersive Media
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Awards and Honors

  • Illinois Distinguished Fellowship

Related Links

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