Communication and Media Studies Doctoral Program Student Research

Our doctoral candidates work with internationally renowned SOJC faculty experts to do groundbreaking research on today’s most pressing communication and media realities.

two people work with VR equipment in front of a screen displaying the VR content
Game studies researchers explore collegiate esports in the new EGR Lab
In the SOJC’s Esports and Games Research Lab, students explore the psychology, culture, and industry surrounding gaming—including its effectiveness as a learning tool and its integration into everyday life.
Tingyou Zou works at a laptop
Center for Science Communication Research grants help students and faculty answer science communication questions
Can virtual reality help solve environmental issues? Can an online chat make it easier to quit smoking? With the help of grants secured through the Center for Science Communication Research, SOJC PhD students tackle these questions and more.
Waseq Rahman
Life-changing play: PhD student Waseq Rahman explores games as tools for social change communication
Waseq Rahman researches how gameplay generates thought-provoking experiences leading to greater insights about purpose and personal growth.
Two girls take turns looking at a slide through a microscope in a classroom.
How the pandemic may help more students see themselves as scientists
PhD students collaborated across disciplines to study how the COVID-19 pandemic affected high school students studying science.
sidewalk chalk messages of pride
PhD research: Small-town Pride celebrations emerge – and show that LGBTQ life in America is flourishing outside of cities
For their dissertation, a PhD student who studies rural transgender media activism documented LGBTQ+ pride celebrations in small-town America.
A peruvian student sits in a red plastic chair watching an educational broadcast at home while unable to attend school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mapping the promises and perils of distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic: Peru’s case
Kay and Ping
PhD student profile: Two best friends traverse the globe to research media and health
Lifelong besties Kay Chansiri and Ping Thipkanok study neuroscience and health communication, respectively. Together they work with faculty associates in the SOJC’s Center for Science Communication Research to investigate Instagram use among female students and its impact on body image.
Hadil Abuhmaid
PhD student profile: Hadil Abuhmaid explores national identity and culture in Palestinian cinema
Hadil Abuhmaid researches cinema as a powerful storytelling medium and investigates how it has formed and represented national identities in her native Palestine.
Irene Awino
Irene Awino investigates media’s role in Kenyan political unrest
Now an assistant professor of communication at the University of Wisconsin–LaCrosse, Irene Awino researches how media coverage, or lack thereof, of political issues in her native Kenya has led to further unrest and violence.
Bethany Howe
PhD student Bethany Grace Howe gives talk on gender transition
Bethany Grace Howe, a journalist and doctoral alum, shares her experiences as a transgender woman.