Ph.D. Students

Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn

Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn completed her undergraduate education at Seoul National University and received a B.A. in Communication and a second B.A. in Business Administration.  In collaboration with Dr. Jeremy Bailenson at the Virtual Human Interaction Lab, she has worked extensively on automated facial feature tracking by coupling computer vision and machine learning algorithms and explored its implications on emotional and behavioral prediction.  She has also studied consumer decision-making and brand preferences in online and immersive virtual environments.  Ahn's most recent projects investigate visual perspective taking using VR technology and how it compares to mental imageries in eliciting empathic attitudes and behaviors.

Morgan Ames

In addition to communication and information science, Ames draws on science and technology studies, sociology, anthropology, and cultural theory to answer questions about the ways in which we make sense of technologies in our lives.

Mike Ananny

Ananny's research focuses on better understanding how individuals and communities use forms and forums for civic communication.

James Cummings

Jesse Fox

Fox's interests include media literacy; the production and impact of alternative media; health communication; computer-mediated communication and its impact on interpersonal relationships and social interaction; human-computer interaction and its effects on identity and social learning; methodological issues in studying media; pornography consumption and communication through popular music.

Seeta Peña Gangadharan

Gangadharan specializes in media and communications policy and uses an interdisciplinary approach to understand the role of the public in policymaking. Currently, Seeta is investigating the ways in which the public participates and contributes to the rulemaking process at the Federal Communications Commission. Other research interests include: media globalization, political economy of media and culture, and new media studies.

Lori Gauthier

Gauthier's research interests include social psychology, political psychology, political communication, and survey methodology.

Laura Granka

Granka's researches websearch and information retrieval through both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Victoria Groom

Groom's research interests focus on issues of embodiment and machine identity.

Helen Harris

Jiang (John) Hu

Hu's primary research interests are social and psychological issues related to human-computer interaction.

Daniel Kreiss

Kreiss' research focuses on the intersection of networked technologies, political institutions, and democratic citizenship. He is interested in detailing how networked, digital technologies are used by political campaigns and civil society organizations with an eye towards considering the larger implications for contemporary citizenship.

Eun Sun Lee

Key Lee

Lee's current research interests include cognition, persuasion, and psychology of interactive technologies.

Yph Lelkes

Lelkes's research interests include political psychology and political communication, with a focus on attitude structure and formation.

Lise Marken

Marken's dissertation explores the impact of digital media on the practices and norms of traditional journalism and how these changes affect the nature of journalistic power.

Solomon Messing

Messing's research interests include political communication, psychology, race, and Internet communication.

Katherine J. Murray

Murray's research interests lie at the intersection of society and digital media, and she is particularly interested in the variety of ways that organizations incorporate tools such as the Internet to engage their constituencies.

Josh Pasek

Pasek's research interests include political socialization, civic education, the role of media as a democratic institution, survey design, public opinion, and civic engagement.

Ethan Plaut

Plaut's current research interests include the intersection of aesthetics and public discourse, humor as a social force and intercultural comparative media studies.

Shailendra Rao

Rao is interested in how cognitive and social principles can improve the human-computer relationship.

James Scarborough

Scarborough's research interests focus on the effects of using multi-user virtual environments including video games, educational applications, and virtual worlds.

Kathryn Segovia

Segovia's interests lie at the intersection of law and social science research.

Gaurav Sood

Sood is interested in normative theory of Democracy, political economy of everyday communication, and identity politics.

Abhay Sukumaran

Vanessa Vega

Vega is interested in investigating media effects using a broad approach that includes survey methods as well as experimental-physiological measures. She is also interested in children and media, including cognitive filters that children might develop as a result of media use, the effect of television in stimulating materialistic values, and media literacy.

Jane QianYing Wang

Wang's research interests include Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors, cognitive psychology and social psychology.

Rui Wang

Wang's research interests include deliberative democracy, democratic experiment and practice in China, comparative politics, public opinion, and survey methodology.

Sean Westwood

Sean's interests include deliberation, political engagement and the consequences of new media on political processes.

Yushu Zhou