Q&A with Isabel Morales

Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Isabel Morales (BS ’13, journalism) is the media relations manager at The Nature Conservancy. Morales also participated in a Media Career Night alumni panel on “Nonprofits” in Spring 2022. Watch a recording of the session here.   Why did you major in journalism and how has it influenced […]

Q&A with Josh Heuman

Get to know some of our College of Media faculty. Josh Heuman is a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Media & Cinema Studies and the Department of Journalism. He received the 2022 College of Media Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching by a Specialized Faculty Member.  What is your favorite class to teach? We’re not supposed […]

Q&A with Grace Chen

Get to know some of our College of Media alumni. Grace Chen (MS ’10 advertising) is a product manager at Meta.  When did you know that you wanted to study advertising?As a child, I remember being very fascinated with old catalog ads. Throughout my childhood, a lot of advertising consisted of subscription-based magazines and order […]

Q&A with Marisa Peacock

Get to know some of our College of Media faculty. Marisa Peacock has been an advertising lecturer since Fall 2019. What is the best part about advertising?Two things. The first one is simple: Every industry needs advertising—it’s always going to exist. Secondly, advertising is constantly changing and creating. I specialize in social media, which didn’t […]

Shiyue (Jennifer) Zhang

Email: shiyue2@illinois.edu   Research Interests Jennifer is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Communications Research. Her research aims to equip communicators with theory-driven and evidence-based strategies to navigate the digital landscape more effectively. From a social scientific perspective, she examines how social media messaging strategies in Public Service Announcements (PSAs)—particularly humor and visuals—shape […]

Yan (Anna) Liu

Email: yanliu10@illinois.edu Cohort: 2021 Research Interests Anna’s research lies at the intersection of strategic communication, data and emerging data-driven technologies (algorithms and AI), consumer behaviors, and media sociology. She takes a behavioral approach to study data and data-driven technologies (algorithms and AI) in message design and media exposure for consumer empowerment and societal good. Specifically, […]

Q&A with Patrick Vargas

Get to know some of our College of Media faculty! Patrick Vargas is a professor of advertising. He currently teaches Advertising Research Methods (ADV 281), Psychology of Advertising (ADV 478), and sometimes a graduate-level research or seminar class.  What is your research interest? I study attitudes and persuasion. I also have an interest in stereotyping and prejudice. […]

Q&A with Mike Vainisi

Mike Vainisi (BS ’08, journalism) is head of original content at ATTN:. In Spring 2022, he was part of a Media Career Night alumni panel that discussed working in entertainment and Hollywood. (Watch the recording.) How did you go about picking journalism as your major?  As someone who loved writing in high school, journalism was a great […]

College of Media
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