Research and Creative Endeavor 5

New journalism professor Alex Gonçalves explores social dynamics through data-driven insights

August 21, 2023 | Kelly Youngblood

Alex Gonçalves believes a vibrant press is crucial to the future of democratic societies. He also knows the foundation of a dynamic media ecosystem is created in the classroom.

For that reason, it’s been his goal to work in journalism education since Gonçalves left the newsroom as a science reporter and began his academic journey more than a decade ago.

“I am motivated by the thought of contributing to the education of the next generation of journalists and communicators,” Gonçalves said.

This fall, he joins the College of Media as a new assistant professor in the Department of Journalism.

Gonçalves, who received a PhD in communication from Columbia University and a master’s degree in comparative media studies from MIT, will be teaching Journalism 102: Surviving Social Media.

At both universities, Gonçalves studied the role of social media in the emergence of new cultural paradigms—a subject that continues to be a part of his research to help “inform the policies that shape the role of digital platforms.”

In addition to teaching, Gonçalves is also passionate about his research, which focuses on the intersection of computer science and social communication.

When he realized the College of Media would offer him the opportunity to teach and to continue research, he knew it was the right place for him, where he “could teach future journalists and communicators while advancing my research agenda in a very stimulating intellectual environment,” he said.

Gonçalves also felt a personal connection to the College of Media as he’d always admired the late James W. Carey, a journalism professor, former director of the Institute of Communications Research, and former dean. Carey, a student of the media’s role in society, was an internationally recognized scholar in communications research.

“I was exposed to [Carey’s] thought on journalism at MIT. His [book] Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society was part of the recommended reading list for the degree in comparative media studies,” he said. “Later, I joined the PhD program he founded and infused with his vision at Columbia Journalism School.”

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2002, Gonçalves worked as a software developer in Brazil for eight years. He got a second bachelor’s in social communication and worked at a Brazilian newspaper as a science journalist for four years.

In 2011, Gonçalves received the Visionary Journalist Fellowship, a $55,000 prize toward a master’s degree in communication abroad. The following year, he won a Person of the Year Fellowship, a $10,000 award given by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce to young professionals pursuing graduate studies in the U.S.

Eventually, Gonçalves began to focus on academia—teaching numerous courses in data science, public speaking, journalism ethics, and science reporting—and research, using computational methods to study digital communication.

His focus on understanding social dynamics through data-driven insights helped him obtain an $82,500 Brown Institute Magic Grant for the development of a platform to make defense contracting data searchable by journalists and transparency activists.

Currently, Gonçalves is working on turning his dissertation into a book, with plans to publish in the U.S. and Brazil, which examines the role of social media in the rise of the New Right in Brazil.

Though his roles have varied throughout his career—from software developer and reporter to scholar and educator—the interplay of communication and technology, and a desire to share knowledge with others, have been common threads.

“I believe education is a privileged space for real communication. I love seeing my students making use, in practical settings, of the knowledge that I shared with them,” Gonçalves said. “Occasionally, I get emails from former students of mine telling me that something I shared with them has become very useful in their professional lives. That makes me very happy.”

New journalism lecturer and science writer Nancy Averett strives to highlight humanity behind research

August 21, 2023 | Kelly Youngblood

As an independent science journalist for the last 17 years, Nancy Averett has dedicated her career to writing about the intersection where science and humanity connect.

The award-winning reporter, who has a passion for the “sociological side of science and putting a human face on it,” says her secret weapon as a science writer is simple—she’s not a scientist. Instead, she views herself as a translator, reaching into the minds of scientists, engineers, and doctors to explain how their research will impact people.

She’s looking forward to sharing that passion with students and fellow faculty this fall as a new lecturer in the Department of Journalism.

Averett, who has been published in Scientific American, Discover, The Nation, and other magazines, will teach three courses this fall: Science Journalism, Intro to Journalism, and Newsgathering across Platforms.

Averett will bring a breadth of experience to the classroom, having served as an adjunct instructor at Miami University of Ohio, where she designed and taught courses in news writing, editing, and feature writing.

In addition to teaching and mentoring young journalists, Averett was one of five journalists selected by a national nonprofit in 2019 to teach a workshop for scientists on how to communicate better with the press. She has always found teaching to be a worthwhile pursuit.

“I just found all of those [teaching] experiences pretty rewarding,” said Averett, who is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and Society of Environmental Journalists.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in international affairs at the University of Colorado, Averett went on to obtain a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

For the next 10 years, Averett worked as a reporter at three daily newspapers including the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri; the North Jersey Herald & News in New Jersey; and the Morning Call in Pennsylvania. She was recognized with awards for her writing at each post.

With aspirations to write more long-form articles for magazines, Averett ventured into freelance writing, publishing her first articles in Runner’s World. Soon after, she attended an American Society of Journalists and Authors conference where she met other freelance writers and learned many of them were covering science news.

“After a while [I thought], I want to do what they’re doing. Their stories are really cool,” she said.

Averett started to pitch story ideas to Audubon magazine and “did a lot of writing about birds.” She also began to write for university publications.

From there, Averett focused on writing about wildlife, climate change, and environmental science, gaining recognition at top national publications including Sierra, Undark, and Mother Jones.

Her extensive journalism experience also includes working as the Midwest Climate Reporting Fellow for the Food & Environment Reporting Network, writing breaking news and long-form stories about climate change and agriculture, food production, and land rights issues.

In 2020, she won first place for Outstanding Feature Story from the Society of Environmental Journalists for an article on air quality and industry titled “Undone Science: When Research Fails Polluted Communities.” That same year she also won the Robert G. Fenley Writing Award (silver) from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Averett says she will likely cut back on freelance work to focus on teaching, and perhaps, to pursue a long-held dream of writing a book.

For now, she’s thinking about ways to help students realize the importance of effectively communicating science.

“We’ve got to find a way to excite people about science and understand really how science works,” Averett said. “I think being science literate would basically save lives.”

Journalism master’s student Herbert DaCosta awarded fellowship to help educate public about climate change

July 10, 2023 | Kelly Youngblood

Herbert DaCosta, a graduate student in the journalism master’s degree program, was awarded the 2023-24 Thornton Tomasetti Foundation Technical Literacy Fellowship for his exceptional submittal to help the wider public understand and connect with climate change. DaCosta is a research development manager at the University of Illinois Office of Proposal Development.

The fellowship offers up to $5,000 in funding for projects that further the public’s technical literacy on environmental issues and other topics. Submittals were reviewed by Jim Glanz, New York Times international investigative reporter; Richard L. Tomasetti, consultant and founding principal; and Elisabeth Malsch, managing principal of Thornton Tomasetti, Inc.

DaCosta said he plans to use the fellowship to carry out the research needed to write about climate change in a way that a broader audience can understand.

“The fact that there is a significant percentage of the population who believes that climate change is a hoax means that we still have a large gap to reach when it comes to the academic community to reach [people’s] minds and hearts,” DaCosta said. “It is possible that although the academic community has sent out the message, it was not in a way in which the public could relate and understand. My goal is to give a small contribution to narrow that gap.”

“We’re extremely proud of Herbert for earning this fellowship where he can make an impact by improving how journalists communicate environmental issues to the public,” said Mira Sotirovic, associate professor and Karin and Folke Dovring Scholar in Propaganda, and head of the Department of Journalism. The Department of Journalism has prioritized the study of science and technology journalism, creating an online curriculum that begins Fall 2023.

In his current job, DaCosta supports the Illinois research community in the development of large and multidisciplinary grant proposals. The position, which he’s held since 2017, has been a great fit for DaCosta, who is a trained scientist with a passion for writing.

After obtaining a PhD in chemistry with minors in physics and computer engineering from the University of Florida and a Doctor of Science in chemistry from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, DaCosta worked as an industrial research engineer. He developed novel catalytic converters to decrease regulated emissions from diesel engines and new technologies to capture carbon dioxide and to convert it into useful products.

Realizing he liked writing more than research and development, DaCosta found a career in research development that allowed him to combine his science skills and his interest in writing.

DaCosta plans to complete his master’s degree in journalism at Illinois next year. He said his goal is to be able to “write about science for the wider community and to become better at assisting the Illinois research community in the development of large grant proposals.”

DaCosta feels it’s important to be able to communicate science and technology concepts clearly to educate others.

“Learning is more effective when the new lessons learned are built on previous knowledge,” he said. “Also, learning is enabling, in many ways. The more one learns, the more one can learn.”

Media students present at 2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium

April 27, 2023

Students from the College of Media are participating in the 16^th annual University of Illinois Undergraduate Research Symposium, held Thursday, April 27, in the Illini Union. The symposium features presentations, posters, and performances from students across campus. (View the program.)

Pictured above is “Yellow Hollywood” by Alex Gallegos, a sophomore in media and cinema studies, who was a semi-finalist in the Image of Research competition. Read his description about his image, which was inspired by the film Everything Everywhere All At Once. The winners’ and semi-finalists’ images are on display as part of the symposium.

Media student poster presentations include:

“Bilingual Computational Analysis of the #nosabokid Hashtag Community on TikTok” (#89)
9:00 AM – 10:15 AM, Illini Union South Lounge

Joshua Brown, Sophomore, Computer Science + Advertising

Research Mentor: Salvatore Callesano, Spanish & Portuguese

“Combating Misinformation” (#56)
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM, Illini Room C

Garima Sharma, Junior, Computer Science + Advertising

Research Mentors: Ewa Maslowska, Assistant Professor of Advertising; Hari Sundaram, Computer Science

“Here, There, Everywhere: Sense of Presence” (#60)
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM, Illini Room C

Nancy Zhang, Freshman, Computer Science + Advertising

Research Mentor: Hyunseo (Violet) Yoon, Recreation, Sport & Tourism

“In A League of Their Own: A Study of Peer Attitudes Toward F-1 Visa Holders” (#62)

J. Sidney Malone, Senior, Political Science and Journalism

Research Mentor: Yujeong Yang, Political Science

“Yellow Hollywood: Disparities, Representation and Contemporary Problems of Asian/Asian Americans in the Hollywood Film Industry”
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Illini Union Room 217

Alex Gallegos, Sophomore, Media & Cinema Studies

Research Mentor: Rachel Kuo, Assistant Professor, Media & Cinema Studies

“International Expansion of Netflix: The Case for South Korea” (#18)
3:45 – 5:00 PM, Illini Room A

Yun Hyuk (Alex) Choi, Senior, Media & Cinema Studies

Research Mentor: Rachel Kuo, Assistant Professor, Media & Cinema Studies

As part of the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program to assist advanced graduate students with their research projects, Nancy Zhang, a freshman in computer science + advertising, worked with research mentor Hyunseo Yoon in the Department of Recreation, Sport & Tourism.

Jenny Oyallon-Koloski, assistant professor of media and cinema studies, was the research mentor for Gehan Jia, a junior in mathematics and computer science (LAS) for their presentation on “Howl’s Moving Castle Moving.”

Geography, language dictate social media and popular website usage, study finds

February 9, 2023 | Lois Yoksoulian, University of Illinois News Bureau

Since its inception, the Internet has been viewed by technology experts and scholars as a way to access information at a global scale without having to overcome hurdles posed by language and geography. However, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that how people around the world use the same popular social media platforms and websites remains vastly different based on their language and geography.

A new study by Harsh Taneja, associate professor of new and emerging media in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, and Margaret Yee Man Ng, assistant professor of journalism, builds upon previous research and examines Internet consumption across 124 countries through their usage of popular websites, as well as Twitter and YouTube—two globally dominant social media platforms.

The results of the new study are published in the journal PLOS ONE.

“The goal of this work was to develop ways to assess which countries are most like each other in the usage of these popular websites and social media platforms and to identify factors that explain the similarities,” the researchers said.

The team found that language and geography remain the most salient predictors of web usage, and their role on YouTube and Twitter is just as significant as on the wider web.

“This is true of the websites they visit and also how they use social media,” Taneja said. “Sure, YouTube is the most popular online outlet in most of the world, but people in Nepal on average do not watch the same videos as people in the United States.”

The team collected and compared trending Internet traffic data and the use of hashtags for the two most popular social media platforms—Twitter and YouTube—and the 500 most-visited sites using Alexa’s Global Rank in the 124 nations studied.

“We chose to work with Twitter and YouTube because although they are both very popular, they attract different audiences, so they capture a very wide slice of Internet use,” the researchers said.

“Our analysis suggests that global web use is quite heterogeneous, whether it is website traffic or in how people use Twitter or YouTube, with social media usage being even less similar overall than the usage of websites,” Ng said.

Previous studies have shown that the free exchange of information has been hampered by government regulations and protections in nations like Russia and China, for example.

“However, government regulation is not the only reason for the restrained flow of information,” Taneja said. “Our study offers empirical evidence that people generally prefer content that focuses on their region and in their language.”

While using data reflecting trending YouTube videos and Twitter topics via hashtags may not wholly capture Internet consumption numbers, it works well as a proxy to gauge consumption on these platforms, the researchers said.

“An important caveat of this work is that we must acknowledge that trending topics are not purely based on consumption,” Ng said. “There is some sort of a black box that determines the complete picture, but tracking hashtags is an effective proxy and less biased than methods involving geolocation, for example, because many users do not reveal their location while browsing.”

Taneja and Ng said the study is beneficial to researchers studying the global flow of information—and, importantly, misinformation—and for web content producers interested in gaining a larger or more targeted global audience.

Seed funding from the Center for Social and Behavioral Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign supported this study.

Editor’s notes:

To reach Harsh Taneja, email harsht@illinois.edu.

To reach Margaret Yee Man Ng, email ymn@illinois.edu.

The paper “Web use remains highly regional even in the age of global platform monopolies” is available online and from the U of I News Bureau. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278594

View original press release.

James W. Carey Faculty Fellows selected for 2022-24

Two College of Media faculty members affiliated with the Institute of Communications Research have been selected as James W. Carey Faculty Fellows for academic years 2022-2024. Both Angela Aguayo, associate professor of media and cinema studies, and Chang-Dae Ham, associate professor of advertising and director of graduate studies in advertising, will receive the honor and a stipend to support their research activities.

As a Carey Faculty Fellow, Aguayo will work on a book project called Collective Matters, which examines how traditions in the humanities, health care, law, and education manifest through documentary in non-theatrical spaces, addressing the rituals of media producing, screening, and circulating that bind communities across time. During his Carey Faculty Fellow tenure, Ham will conduct research on digital data literacy and privacy issues.

Established in 2021, the James W. Carey Fund for Faculty Excellence was endowed by Carey’s four sons to honor their father’s legacy at the College of Media and within the field of media. At ICR, Carey earned his doctoral degree, was a research professor, and served as director (1969-1976); he also served as dean of the college. The Carey Fund supports research activities of the outstanding faculty in ICR, the world’s oldest program for interdisciplinary research and doctoral education in communication and media studies.

To join Carey’s family, former students, colleagues, and friends in growing the endowment, please visit the College of Media giving page, click on the orange “Give Online Now” button, and select the Carey Fund under “Nurture Excellence in Media Faculty.”

Media faculty receive SHIELD Illinois grant to study public attitudes of COVID-19 testing

Three College of Media faculty have received a $25,000 research grant from SHIELD Illinois for a project that will examine public attitudes, news framing, and online engagement about SHIELD COVID-19 testing. The analyses will help inform best practices and strategies for future campaigns addressing public health crises.

SHIELD is the University of Illinois System’s statewide saliva-based COVID-19 testing program that began in Fall 2020. More than 1,700 K-12 schools, community colleges, universities, and other organizations make up the program’s client base.

MUSE research team — The MUSE research group.

The faculty members conducting the research are Ewa Maslowska, assistant professor of advertising; Margaret Ng, assistant professor of journalism; and Harsh Taneja, associate professor of new and emerging media in the Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising. Last spring, they formed a research group called MUSE to study media users and consumers through interdisciplinary methods. The SHIELD research is the group’s first funded project.

Maslowska, Taneja, and Ng broadly research media usage: Maslowska specializes in marketing communication and consumer behavior. Taneja focuses on how and why people consume media. Ng studies how data from social media platforms can be used to explore an event or issue in a different way.

The group will investigate social media discourse, news coverage, and other data to understand how the public responded to SHIELD’s communications. Their findings will be published in academic articles, compiled into a report for the general public, and posted on an interactive online dashboard in summer 2023. SHIELD plans to use the findings to further benefit the state of Illinois.

In initial observations, Taneja said that COVID-19 is different from past public health crises because of the influence of social media.

In terms of physical transmission, “COVID -19 is perhaps similar to several other bugs in the past in how far and fast it can spread,” he said. “And then you add social media, which is available to both increase the scale and the speed of transmission of information about it.”

In a state as diverse as Illinois, geographic differences also must be considered when analyzing public perceptions of COVID-19.

“We are very mindful of the fact that attitudes towards COVID, in general, downstate, tend to be very different from attitudes towards COVID, than, let’s say, in Chicago,” Taneja added.

Even though vaccine hesitancy has existed before COVID-19, Ng said that this pandemic was the first time every citizen needed to make a personal decision about vaccination in a relatively short period of time. While social media has become the main source of information, misinformation about vaccination is also widespread.

“With minimal restrictions on post content, misinformation easily becomes widespread on social media,” Ng said. “That’s why a study on the SHIELD health campaign will reveal the opportunities and challenges the effort encountered in the past two years.”

The last few years have given media scholars like Ng and her colleagues new research opportunities. The pandemic and other public health crises shouldn’t just be understood from a biological perspective, she argues.

“It really depends on the communication side—communication scholars have a very unique position to help make sure that society as a whole can get that benefit from vaccination,” Ng said. “And I’m very glad that we got the funding so that our media expertise can benefit the whole state at both a societal level and at an individual level.”

—Vivian La, Communications Intern

What do we know about political advertising?

It can be challenging to distinguish between a paid political ad and one that is not in today’s media environment, especially on social media. News Bureau editor Lois Yoksoulian spoke with advertising professor Michelle Nelson about the topic. New research from Nelson and her colleagues found that most adults—even those who are politically engaged and educated—do not fully understand online targeting, sources and funding for political ads, or the unique regulatory environment for political speech that is different from commercial speech.

Are political ads regulated, and how do they differ from commercial ads?

Political ads are a form of political speech, which is given more protection than commercial speech under the First Amendment, with the idea that the free flow of political information is essential for the functioning of a democracy. Commercial speech, which includes advertising for products and services, has been defined as speech that merely proposes a commercial transaction.

Only commercial speech is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, motivated by the governmental interest of providing true and nonmisleading information to consumers. Not all commercial speech is advertising, and not all advertising is commercial speech. An ad for a McDonald’s burger is commercial speech, subject to the FTC rules regarding false and misleading information. An ad for a candidate is political speech, not subject to the FTC rules or any content-based guidelines.

However, the Supreme Court has said that time, place and manner restrictions can apply to political ads. For example, laws that require funding disclosure don’t compromise the content of the speech because they provide citizens with information regarding the message’s source. So, there is some regulation for political ads regarding source disclosure.

Is this level of regulation adequate?

No, especially on social media. For example, the “Stand By Your Ad” provision of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which requires anyone running for federal office to include the “I approve this message” as part of their ads, only applies to TV and radio, not to social media.

What this means for U.S. voters is that they may not be able to know the true source of the political message. It’s like the Federal Election Commission hasn’t caught up to what’s happening in the media environment. Increasingly, people are getting their political ads and information online. I believe that people have the right to know the source of messages so they can best evaluate the message.

False ads can be challenged through defamation and libel, but those processes take time. The challenge must be filed by the parties who feel wronged, and they probably will not be resolved before that campaign period is long over. So, these measures probably are not strong deterrents.

Any regulations about the message content may be seen as ”chilling” political speech. I’m not sure we want the government to censor ads’ content.

How can citizens determine who is behind a political ad if it is unclear?

As political speech, political advertising is regulated by the FEC. There are clear rules for source disclaimers such as who paid for it, whether it was endorsed by the candidate—on radio, newspaper, TV, outdoor and “communications placed for a fee on another person’s website”—but none exist for social media.

Ironically, some of the big tech companies are offering transparency. You can find out some information. For example, Meta offers an ad library, so you can see which organizations are spending money on the platform and how many ads were run, etc., and from there, you could click on the organization’s website. Google now has a verification process and offers transparency on who’s running ads online, and the FEC offers information about super PACS. People could visit OpenSecrets.org to find out more information about super PACS, as well.

However, that’s a lot of work. Most people probably do not have the time for this intensive search. It would be better, in my opinion, if there were clear, consistent and conspicuous guidelines for source disclosure in digital media, where people could see the organization and link to the organization’s website and donors.

What are some of the differences between political ads that we might see on television versus those we might encounter on social media?

First, it’s pretty easy to recognize a TV or radio ad. However, it’s not always so easy in social media. The FTC requires that paid advertisements or influencers include a “clear and conspicuous” disclosure—but not all ads have that disclosure, or it’s not so clear and conspicuous.

Second, you may not encounter political ads on all of your social media. In October 2019, Twitter announced it would stop accepting paid political advertising. This change was a significant move for a technology company whose revenue relied partly on political advertising. The action set off a series of decisions from other social media companies to regulate paid political advertising. While some companies also banned paid political advertising or instilled fact-checking, some platforms remained open for paid political advertising. YouTube announced it would do some limited fact-checking but would not allow microtargeting of ads.

I doubt there will be any governmental restrictions on political advertising on social media, but, interestingly, more than half of American surveyed in a Pew Research Center poll believed that social media shouldn’t allow political ads.

Third, some research suggests that a more diverse set of candidates advertise on Facebook, and the content of the messages may be less negative, less issue-focused and more partisan than TV commercials. This probably means that social media advertising is more targeted—probably to those who already agree with the messages. So we aren’t seeing a broad array of messages in our social media feed—we see those that we already know or with which we agree. The messages may be more like reminder messages or nudges to vote than informational content.

What steps can citizens take to increase their political advertising literacy in preparation for the current midterm and upcoming 2024 presidential election cycles?

Everyone could learn more about political advertising regulations and sources. Our research group made the brief video (see below) to help all voters understand some of the key issues. We also have a website with more information, tips and even a quiz where you can check out your knowledge.

Also, the Annenberg Public Policy Center runs a fact check website where you can get all kinds of information on ads and check out if an ad is false or misleading from across the political spectrum.

And know that even though most political ads are probably providing some good information, we should all carefully scrutinize the information and check a variety of sources before entering the voting booth.

Editor’s note: To reach Michelle Nelson, call 217-344-5068; email nelsonmr@illinois.edu.

—Lois Yoksoulian, Physical Science Editor, University of Illinois News Bureau

View original press release.

ICR team creates Spurlock Museum exhibit on quinceañeras

September 20, 2022 | Faith Lee, Communications Intern

Following a Fall 2020 doctoral seminar on intersectional Latina feminist media issues at the Institute of Communications Research, Angharad Valdivia, a research professor who is also a professor of Latina and Latino studies, and her students were inspired to create a museum exhibit on quinceañeras. The team of Valdivia, ICR doctoral students Ariana Cano and Stephanie Pérez, and ICR alumna Dora Valkanova (PhD ’20) developed “Quinceañeras: Celebration, Joy, and Ethnic Pride.”

The new exhibit at Spurlock Museum opens on Saturday, Sept. 24, and runs through Sunday, Dec. 4.

The group drew inspiration from Quinceañera Style: Social Belonging and Latinx Consumer Identities, a book by Rachel Valentina Gonzalez, but amongst their studies surrounding “quinces,” which included extensive research on matters of labor and consumerism, they noticed one thing was missing: joy.

“I feel like I’ve really tried to bring some realities about what a quince is. Sometimes it’s not always joyful,” Cano said. “[We wanted to show] the process it takes to get to the quinceañera.”

The exhibit will focus on the joy of the traditional celebrations that mainstream media oftentimes does not capture and will contextualize popular culture representations of this important coming-of-age event for Latinx/es and Latin Americans. Video reels, original dresses, photographs, and decorations will be featured in the exhibit to provide visitors with the experience and feel of an actual quinceañera.

“Consumerism of Latinidad is always tied to stereotypical things. When you really dig deep into what a quinceañera is, it’s symbolic sometimes, it’s a process other times. To some people, it’s an actual event and to some, it’s about the quinceañera herself,” Cano said.

Their own experiences with quinceañeras also fueled the project. Both Cano and Pérez had their own quinceañeras to celebrate their 15th birthdays. Cano took up choreographing for quinceañeras and has choreographed more than 30 dances.

Since Summer 2021, the group has been collecting, approving, and installing artifacts in the exhibit.

“In the museum itself, I think we have it set up like the quinceañera process. Honestly, before the quinceañera day, there are at least six months prior to that where all of it is prepping for the quinceañera day,” Cano said.

ICR exhibit team — The ICR-based team who created the quinceañeras exhibit at Spurlock Museum includes (top row) Angharad Valdivia, a research professor who is also a professor of Latina and Latino studies; ICR doctoral student Ariana Cano; (bottom row) ICR doctoral student Stephanie Pérez; and ICR alumna Dora Valkanova (PhD ’20).

Cano and Pérez also developed a zine, a self-published form of a magazine, and Cano produced a website as ways to engage with visitors beyond the exhibit. Valkanova produced two videos that can be viewed at the exhibit: one is a compilation of quinceañeras on mainstream media and the other features actual quinceañeras.

“It’s a project about joy. One of my favorite things as a professor and as a scholar is mentoring my doctoral students,” Valdivia said. “It has been a joy because I can see the future of my field. I can see the next generation of professors and it makes me very happy to see their energy, creativity, and commitment to social justice.”

The exhibit has also united the Latinx community in Champaign-Urbana as it features photos and artifacts from community members, including a donated dress.

“It celebrates a local community. We have a lot of artifacts and photographs from Champaign-Urbana,” Valdivia said. “The Spurlock Museum is very interested in connecting with the local community. Not just for the University, but to make its exhibit appeal to a broad range within the area.”

They also hope the exhibit appeals to a broad range of students.

“It’s important to see the representation of different [styles] of quinceañeras and an understanding of what it is other than surface level,” Cano said. “I hope that people get a better, deeper understanding of what a quinceañera is.”

The exhibit opens on Saturday, Sept. 24, 4–6 p.m., and will feature remarks by Michael DeAnda, College of Computing and Digital Media, DePaul University, and Rachel Gonzalez-Martin, Department of Mexican American & Latina/o Studies, University of Texas at Austin.

New professor Garza connects journalism history to the present

August 22, 2022 | Vivian La, Communications Intern

Melita Garza, an award-winning journalist, media historian, and a new associate professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism, sees a reporter as a detective investigating a larger story. And she’s most interested in the stories that haven’t been told.

“The idea of trying to piece together the missing pages of history—that is the most fascinating to me,” Garza said. “I know that these stories have been overlooked in the past, so I want to uncover them.”

Garza is interested in how history can be used to understand current issues surrounding representation, diversity, and equity. It’s also the foundation of the class she’s teaching this fall, JOUR 250: Journalism Ethics & Diversity.

“I bring up historical issues, always,” Garza said. “Because I think it’s not possible to understand the present if we don’t understand the past.”

She also wants to ground the course in psychology.

“I think it is important, no matter what you plan to do with your career, to be aware of how our minds work to short circuit our ability to get the full picture or get the full story,” she said. “Understanding the psychology of diversity is just as important as understanding the history of diversity.”

With more than 20 years of experience at professional media outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg News in New York, and the McKinsey Quarterly in London, Garza is an expert in journalism history, media diversity, business reporting, English- and Spanish-language news, the media and civil rights, and literary journalism. For the past decade, she was on the journalism faculty at Texas Christian University.

After graduating from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in government in 1983, Garza began her journalism career. She was an inaugural member of Los Angeles Times’ Minority Editorial Training Program. She then worked at the Milwaukee Journal for a few years before landing a position at the Chicago Tribune.

During her 15-year tenure at the Chicago Tribune, Garza covered a range of stories that spanned city government, immigration, and big business. She did a lot of “old-fashioned reporting” before the Internet became a resource, and her investigative work on the 2001 Firestone tire failures led to a Pulitzer Prize nomination.

“It was an adventure in terms of finding out what went wrong at the tire plant indicator and how that led to potentially many deaths,” Garza said.

As a reporter, Garza was always interested in business journalism, seeing business as a very dominant influence “in defining public discourse,” she said.

She earned her MBA from the University of Chicago while working as associate editor for McKinsey Quarterly, a London-based business publication.

“Part of the problem with being a journalist is you’re always on the outside looking in,” Garza said. “And I thought that maybe I could get better insight into business if I did this.”

While in business school, she realized how much she enjoyed research and digging deeper into topics. And her peers in class encouraged her, saying she would make a good teacher.

Garza worked at Bloomberg news before pursuing a PhD in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation focused on a Spanish-language newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, La Prensa, which she had heard stories about from her parents. She compared La Prensa’s coverage of Mexican immigrants during the Great Depression to that found in English-language newspapers, then drew parallels to how immigration was portrayed in the news media in 2008 during the financial crisis.

This fall, in addition to her teaching, Garza will be editing a collection of essays called The Routledge Companion to American Journalism History, which she described as a re-imagining of journalism history.

She’s also working on an oral history project on how the lived experiences of journalists of color are valued or not valued in newsrooms across the country.

Garza said she’s excited to be back in Illinois, and especially getting to know more people in the College of Media.

“I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of new students from very diverse backgrounds,” she said. “I’m just super excited to be coming and meeting all of you.”