Media students present at 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium

April 15, 2025 Students from the College of Media are participating in the annual University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Week, held April 20-26. The Undergraduate Research Symposium, the signature event held on Thursday, April 24, at the Illini Union, features presentations, posters, and performances from students across campus.  Below is a list of Media student presentations as well […]

Excerpts from ‘Engaging in a Divided Society’

April 14, 2025 On February 25, 2025, the Suburban Illini Club hosted the College of Media for “Engaging in a Divided Society: Lessons from Journalism,” a panel discussion on how to engage with others in an age of polarization. Moderated by College of Media Dean Tracy Sulkin, panelists included journalism faculty and alumni:  The webinar […]

Netflix director Emma Miller to be alumni speaker at Media Convocation

April 11, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood Netflix director Emma Miller (BS ’08, media studies) says returning to campus to speak at the 2025 College of Media Convocation ceremony feels like a full-circle moment for her. As a Media student at Illinois, she remembers renting DVDs through Netflix’s mail subscription service for her film classes. “I […]

Media studies scholar Denise Bielby inspired to support Ebert Center through blended gift

April 11, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood It’s no surprise that renowned media studies scholar and two-time University of Illinois alum Denise Bielby (BS ’71, MA ’72, ACES), Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Emerita, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was interested in fellow alum Roger Ebert’s work and helping preserve his legacy. Bielby, whose research […]

Media faculty and TAs make list of teachers ranked as excellent

April 7, 2025 Congratulations to all the College of Media faculty and teaching assistants who were ranked as excellent by their students! This list is based on Instructor and Course Evaluation System questionnaire forms completed by students during the Fall 2024 semester and Winter 2024-25. Only those instructors who distributed ICES forms at least once during […]

Ebertfest announces remaining films and special guests attending the 2025 festival

Director Francis Ford Coppola to participate in a virtual Q&AActress Jane Levy and Critics Michael Phillips, Richard Roeper, Matt Zoller-Seitz, Nell Minow, Brian Tallerico, Eric Pierson, Dion Metzger, and Brenda Butler will be attending in person  April 1, 2025 CHAMPAIGN, IL (April 1, 2025) — Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as Ebertfest, announced today the […]

Journalism alumna Marilynn Preston supports well-being initiatives for College of Media students

March 14, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood From her standing desk at her home office in Northern California, Marilynn Preston (BS ’67, journalism)—journalist, healthy lifestyle expert, and Emmy-winning TV producer—spoke with zeal about the role health and wellness has played in her life and why she’s inspired to share her passion with students in the College […]

Public Relations Student Society of America at Illinois back in action thanks to student-led mission

March 13, 2025 | Kelly Youngblood The Public Relations Student Society of America at Illinois is back after a four-year hiatus, thanks to a group of determined students who revitalized the local chapter. Jordan Butler, a senior in journalism and president of PRSSA at Illinois, said a call to action in a College of Media […]

Ebertfest adds Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award-winning ‘Harlan County U.S.A.,’ Angus MacLachlan’s ‘A Little Prayer,’ and David Fortune’s ‘Color Book’

Actors David Strathairn, William Catlett, and Jeremiah Daniels, two-time Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple, and directors Angus MacLachlan and David Fortune join this year’s star-studded lineup February 20, 2025 CHAMPAIGN, IL (February 20, 2025) — Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as Ebertfest, announced today the addition of three new films to this year’s festival, to be held April 23-26 at the […]