Political Communication and Civic Engagement
Faculty in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences studying the relationship between media, politics and civic life are conducting research on the role of communication in the circulation of public affairs news and information. Working across the fields of journalism, political communication, information sciences, computer science and strategic communication, our researchers are using empirical findings to design interventions and promote engaged, informed citizenship in a rapidly changing media ecology.
Centers and Labs
The college's new Spartan Newsroom and Immersive Media Studio invite students to collaborate, gain real-life experiences and build professional skills. The expansive learning spaces sit in the middle of the first floor of the ComArtSci building. Students and faculty are free to move seamlessly from one area to the next when producing or creating content, or when working on collaborative media projects. In addition to applying their skills in news, animation and motion capture arenas, students and faculty can design and produce virtual reality broadcasts and 360 animation renderings for immersive storytelling. The newsroom and studio open up possibilities for cross-campus collaborations in almost any area, including those underway in athletics, health and medicine and theatre.
The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism teaches student and professional journalists how to better report on the issues affecting the environment.
Featured Video
ComArtSci Talks
Kjerstin Thorson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations and the School of Journalism, discusses her research on social media and its effect on political interest and engagement.
Featured Research
By solving practical problems that have pressing social concerns, faculty are focused on producing accessible research to guide strategies for organizations that design social and technological interventions.
Spartan Newsroom and Immersive Media Center
Offering the latest in motion capture and learning technologies for classroom collaboration, production and immersion, the college's new Spartan Newsroom and Immersive Media Studio invite students to collaborate, gain real-life experiences and build professional skills.
The innovative, cross-functional spaces equip students for 21st century jobs by engaging them in the development and delivery of news, animation, game design and immersive interactive media content involving motion capture, augmented and virtual realities.
Featured Researchers
Faculty
John Besley
Ellis N. Brandt Professor of Public RelationsDepartment
Advertising + Public RelationsDr. Besley studies public opinion about science and scientists' opinions about the public in the context of trying to help science communicators be more strategic. He wants to understand how views about decision-makers and decision processes affect perceptions of science and technology (S&T) with potential health or environmental impacts. This focus includes consideration of both mediated exposure through newspapers, television programs and web content, as well as face-to-face public engagement exercises (e.g., public meetings).
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Faculty
Faculty
Daniel Bergan
Associate Professor, Director of Master's StudiesDepartment
CommunicationDaniel Bergan specializes in public opinion and experimental work on advocacy campaigns.
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Faculty
Dan Hiaeshutter-Rice
Assistant ProfessorDepartment
Advertising + Public RelationsContact
Faculty
Serena Miller
Associate ProfessorDepartment
JournalismSerena Miller (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University, former Methodology Associate Editor for Review of Communication Research, and a former Associate Editor for Journalism Studies. She previously worked as faculty member at Arizona State University and Bloomsburg University. Informed by mixed methods research, her general research interests include social science theory building; philosophy of science; scale development and validation; metascience; and alternative forms of journalism. She enjoys targeting concepts in need of conceptual and empirical specification. Miller teaches scale development and validation; mixed methods; graduate studies; survey research; content analysis; social science theory building; storytelling; data journalism; and digital, multimedia, data, and digital journalism. Before becoming a teacher-scholar, Miller is a veteran who served in the mechanic's platoon in the U.S. Army and she worked as a television news reporter and videographer. Miller, as a first-generation scholar, approaches knowledge-making by writing narratives that seek to clearly explain concepts, logic, methodological steps, and solutions to help readers learn about the practice of science due to her struggles navigating academia. Her upbringing also influenced her desire to address how scholarly communities socially maintain the boundaries of their field including defining and limiting what is and what is not knowledge.
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Faculty
Lucinda Davenport
University Distinguished ProfessorDepartment
JournalismDr. Lucinda D. Davenport is a University Distinguished Professor in the School of Journalism at Michigan State University and heads the Graduate Program in Journalism. She recently stepped aside as Director of the School of Journalism after 10 years. Before that, she was the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
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Faculty
Keith Hampton
ProfessorDepartment
Media & InformationContact
Faculty
Faculty
Tim Vos
School of Journalism DirectorDepartment
JournalismTim P. Vos is Professor and Director of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. He is a past president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the field’s leading research, teaching, and service organization.
Faculty
Geri Zeldes
ProfessorDepartment
JournalismGeri Alumit Zeldes, Ph.D., is a tenured professor in MSU’s School of Journalism. Her anthology includes journal articles, documentary films, radio documentaries, book chapters and a comic book - many works recognized by international communication associations such as the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the Broadcast Education Association.
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