Ruth Shillair Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Director of Media + Information Master's Program,
Department
- Media & Information
517-432-8004
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Bio
Dr. Shillair is an educator, researcher, writer, and entrepreneur. Her research covers a range of work looking to maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing harm. This includes communication strategies to improve cybersecurity practices, ways to increase digital literacy, and policies to reduce the digital divide. In order to work towards this goal, she work collaboratively with scholars across disciplines. This has led to joint research projects with the Quello Center and the Oxford University’s Global Cybersecurity Capacity Centre. Her undergraduate studies included computer information systems management, management, and web site design.
She currently teaches classes that focus on the impacts of technology on society as a whole and business as a focus. She often works with the entrepreneurship and innovation students as she teaches MI 472 and MI 452, two of the required classes for the minor. She also teaches one of the required courses for the information science major: MI 304 Information & Society. She enjoys working closely with her students, and mentors many graduate students. She has given seminars and spoken internationally. She works with colleagues in China, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom in collaborative interdisciplinary research. As Director of the Master's program in Media & Information, Dr. Shillair mentors students and helps them tap into some of the amazing resources that the Media & Information Department offers. Her teams work at the cutting edge of societal and technological changes. If you have questions about the master's program in the Media & Information department, please contact her. There also are more details in our department's website.
Roles
Director of Master's Studies for the Department of Media & Information Studies
Research Fellow, Quello Center
Research Consultant to Oxford University’s Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre
Research and Teaching
My research and teaching explore the impacts of technology on how we communicate, do business, and learn. I’ve worked on several projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Institute of Health (NIH), Great Britain Foreign Office (GBFO), and other international organizations. My current classes include both undergraduate classes (e.g., MI 452 Media Entrepreneurship, MI 304 Information & Society, MI 472 Digital Business).
Thematic Research Areas
Media Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship
Policy and Governance