January 28, 2026 | Kelly Youngblood As a CAS Associate, Ng will take time off from teaching in Fall 2026 to advance her research on “platform migration,” focusing on how regulatory bans, algorithmic shifts, and geopolitical tensions drive user migration between social media platforms. She argues that these shifts are fueling digital nationalism and reshaping […]
Join a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the future of the College of Media at Illinois January 14, 2026 As the College of Media approaches its 100th anniversary, we celebrate our proud legacy and commit to advancing the next era of media education and research. Illinois Media graduates have informed the public, shaped culture, advanced technology, […]
December 15, 2025 Ken Burns’s new PBS series The American Revolution is more than a sweeping historical documentary—it illustrates the ways in which journalism helped ignite and sustain the fight for independence. Melita Garza, associate professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism, and winner of Journalism History’s 2024 essay contest, shares […]
December 10, 2025 The Institute of Communications Research marked a highly productive year at the 2025 National Communication Association convention from November 19-23 in Denver, Colorado, with faculty members, students, and alumni presenting research, chairing panels, and contributing to programming at the 111th annual event. In addition to this strong scholarly presence, several members of […]
October 29, 2025 Faculty and graduate students across the College of Media are pursuing a range of activities aimed at understanding challenges to media literacy and developing interventions to improve it. Recent activities include: A team including Michelle Nelson, professor of advertising, Amanda Ciafone, associate professor of media and cinema studies, Stephanie Craft, professor of […]
October 23, 2025 | NPR Public Editor When journalists don’t have access to historical tools, and don’t have that impetus to go and check out things, they are presenting news that is really not informing the public. And nobody wants to do that. Melita Garza, Associate Professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in […]
Email: sjheo2@illinois.edu Research Interests My research focuses on human–AI interaction in advertising and marketing contexts, with particular emphasis on how AI-driven advertising shapes consumer perception, attitude, and underlying psychological mechanisms. Specifically, I examine (1) virtual influencers as persuasive agents, (2) large language model (LLM) interfaces as persuasive environments, and (3) social robots as embodied communicators. […]
October 6, 2025 K-pop, short for “Korean pop,” is a music genre from South Korea celebrated for its dynamic mix of styles, elaborate choreography, and visually captivating performances. Its influence now extends beyond music, reaching film and other media. This summer’s animated movie KPop Demon Hunters not only became the most-watched film in Netflix history but also […]
October 6, 2025 As AI chatbots become more sophisticated, people are increasingly turning to them not only for information, but also for companionship. Concerns are growing over increasing cognitive, emotional, and social reliance on AI tools. The College of Media spoke with Ewa Maslowska, associate professor of advertising and expert in consumer-brand interactions in the […]
September 3, 2025 Updated 9/22/2025 to include Summer 2025 results. 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 Spring 2025 and Summer 2025 semesters. Only those instructors […]