Role 6 | College of Media

Walt Harrington

Professor Emeritus

Affiliations

Department of Journalism

Education

M.A., University of Missouri-Columbia (Journalism)
M.A., University of Missouri-Columbia (Sociology)
B.A., Blackburn College

Course Specialties

Advanced Public Affairs Reporting
Literary Journalism

Background

Harrington is a former staff writer for the Washington Post Magazine. He has held various news, investigative and feature editing and reporting positions at the Washington Post, the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call and the Illinois Observer. Awards include the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award, numerous feature writing awards and the Gustavus Myers Center Award for the Study of Human Rights in the United States.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Harrington is the author of “American Profiles,” “At the Heart of It,” “Crossings: A White Man’s Journey into Black America,” “Intimate Journalism: The Art and Craft of Reporting Everyday Life,” “The Everlasting Stream: A True Story of Rabbits, Guns, Friendship, and Family” and “The Beholder’s Eye: A Collection of America’s Finest Personal Journalism.” He wrote and co-produced a documentary, “The Everlasting Stream,” which appeared nationally on PBS stations and won a regional Emmy Award in 2007.

Contact

wharring@illinois.edu

217-244-7903

Matthew Ehrlich

Professor Emeritus

Affiliations

Department of Journalism
Institute of Communications Research

Education

Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
M.S., University of Kansas
B.J., University of Missouri

Background

Ehrlich is a winner of the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the University of Illinois’ highest teaching honor. Previously he was an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma. He is also a former reporter, producer, editor and anchor for WILL-AM, Urbana; KANU-FM, Lawrence, Kan.; KCUR-FM, Kansas City; KBIA-FM, Columbia, Mo.; and KOPN-FM, Columbia, Mo. Ehrlich has earned honors from the Ohio State Awards, Society of Professional Journalists, Illinois Broadcasters Association, Indiana Associated Press and Kansas Association of Broadcasters.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Ehrlich’s research focuses on social and cultural history. His most recent book is The Krebiozen Hoax: How a Mysterious Cancer Drug Shook Organized Medicine. His earlier books include Dangerous Ideas on Campus: Sex, Conspiracy, and Academic Freedom in the Age of JFK; Kansas City vs. Oakland: The Bitter Sports Rivalry That Defined an Era; Radio Utopia: Postwar Audio Documentary in the Public Interest, which won the 2012 James W. Tankard Book Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication; Journalism in the Movies, which was named an Outstanding Title by the Association of American University Presses; and Heroes and Scoundrels: The Image of the Journalist in Popular Culture, which was coauthored with Joe Saltzman. Ehrlich also has written several scholarly articles on broadcast news, audio documentary, journalism history, and cinematic portrayals of the press. He has won top paper honors from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and from the International Communication Association.

Contact

mehrlich@illinois.edu

217-333-1365

Michelle Nelson

Professor and Head

Affiliations

Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
Institute of Communications Research
Affiliate Faculty, Family Resiliency Center

Education

PhD in Communications, 1997, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MA in Journalism and Mass Communication, 1991, University of Wisconsin-Madison
BS in English, 1989, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Course Specialties

Nelson has taught a variety of small and large-lecture courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

ADV 199 Advertising & Identity in a Globalized World (Fall 2009)
ADV 283 Advertising and Brand Strategy (Spring 2017)
ADV 399 Global Advertising Studies (Spring on campus; ADV 399 Summer Rome, Italy; 2011)
ADV 393 Advertising & Society (Spring 2016)
ADV 476 Global Advertising (Fall 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014)
ADV 481 Advertising Research Methods (Spring 2007)
ADV 482 Qualitative Analysis in Advertising (Fall 2016, Fall 2017)
ADV 483 Audience Analysis (Fall 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; Spring 2008)
ADV 491 Advertising Management Planning (Spring 2007, Spring 2012)

Graduate Courses

ADV 582 Qualitative Research Methods in Advertising (Fall 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
ADV 585 Advertising Planning and Decision Making (Spring 2015)
ADV 587 Graduate Seminar: Theory (Spring 2009)
ADV 588 Graduate Seminar II (Spring 2012)
ADV 597 Proseminar in Advertising (Fall 2013)
ADV 598 Professional Project (Fall-Summer 2012; Fall 2013; Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017)

Background

Nelson studies and teaches advertising and consumer research. She has published nearly 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She is associate editor of the International Journal of Advertising. She has worked, researched, or taught in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, United States, and Jamaica.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Nelson’s early research examined individual differences with respect to persuasion and consumer behavior (e.g., gender, culture). However, she is probably best known for her research on brands in entertainment (e.g., games, movies). While investigating the prevalence and response to branded messages, Nelson became interested in consumers’ media literacy or persuasion knowledge about these so-called hidden brand techniques. As a result, Nelson’s current research and public engagement endeavors focus on advertising/media literacy. For example, Nelson is pursuing longitudinal ethnographic work with parents and pre-school children to understand the development of consumer literacy. At the same time, Nelson is interested in assessing advertising/consumer literacy among adults and understanding how literacy influences the persuasion process and marketplace behaviors. She is currently involved in an international research project (funded by NIH) related to culture, health, and advertising in Jamaica.

In addition, Nelson has a continued research interest and fascination with new technology, branding, and media. She is pursuing research with a team of students and faculty related to virtual reality mediated experiences.

Video

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Contact

nelsonmr@illinois.edu

217-344-5068

Shachar Meron

Senior Lecturer

Affiliations

Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

Education

B.S., Advertising, University of Illinois
M.S., Advertising, University of Illinois

Background

Shachar teaches advertising strategy, creativity and campaigns. His primary focus is The Sandage Project, our program’s capstone course that all seniors take before graduating.

Before life as a lecturer, Shachar worked for 12 years as a creative director, brand strategist and copywriter in Chicago. His clients included Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola, Nordstrom, Cars.com, TransUnion and Abbott Labs, as well as dozens of startup and early-stage companies.

Along the way Shachar co-founded and co-ran BatesMeron Design, an indie agency focused on branding and marketing, where he helped grow the business to 30 clients and $1m in billings. He also founded Redacted, which became Chicago’s largest copywriter association in its first year. Today, Shachar is a partner and creative strategist at Bluegreen Branding, a brand strategy consulting agency that focuses on B2B tech and financial companies.

Shachar earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Advertising here at U of I. While in school, he published a comic strip in the Daily Illini that (among other things) led to his election as student body president—for one day. Long story.

Video

No posts found.

Contact

meron@illinois.edu

217-333-2350

Jenny Oyallon-Koloski

Associate Professor
Director, Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies

Affiliations

Department of Media & Cinema Studies
Institute of Communications Research
Department of Dance
Department of French and Italian
Informatics

Education

2017 | Ph.D. in Communication Arts (Film) | University of Wisconsin, Madison
2014 | C.M.A. (Certified Movement Analyst) | Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, New York City
2008 | B.A. in English | Carleton College

Course Specialties

MACS 261: Survey of World Cinema I (1895–1945)
MACS 262: Survey of World Cinema II (1945–present)
MACS 350: Film Analysis and Criticism
MACS 485: Making Video Essays
MACS 504: Theories of Cinema

Background

My research explores the history of film style and craft, Franco-American cinema and its transnational intersections, the musical genre, movement and the body on screen, the relationship between dance and film history, methods for movement analysis, and videographic criticism. My first book, Storytelling in Motion: Cinematic Choreography and the Film Musical (OUP, 2024), demonstrates how filmmakers use choreography and figure movement to create meaning in their work. I am currently working on several ongoing long-form projects, including a second monograph on the films of Jacques Demy and a co-edited videographic book anthology on the musical. Other ongoing interests are the intersections between camera and figure movement and Japanese musicals’ performance conventions.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Selected publications:

Storytelling in Motion: Cinematic Choreography and the Film Musical. Oxford University Press (2024). https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197602669.001.0001.

Materializing Musical Cinema: Videographic Approaches to Genre Study. Edited by Desirée J. Garcia and Jenny Oyallon-Koloski. Lever Press’s Videographic Books Series (forthcoming 2026).

“Thinking diegetically: Spatiotemporal principles and mimetic rhetorical functions in videographic criticism.” Academic Quarter 27: “Academic Filmmaking in the New Humanities” (2024). 43–56. https://doi.org/10.54337/academicquarter.i27.8826 .

“Annotating FloLo: How the Media Ecology Project fostered early cinema performance analysis and collaborative research.” Journal of E-Media Studies. 7:1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1349/PS1.1938-6060.A.498.

“Moving Cinematic History: Filmic Analysis through Performative Research.” Primary author; co-authored with Michael J. Junokas, Dora Valkanova, Kayt MacMaster, and Sarah Marks Mininsohn. Digital Humanities Quarterly. 15:1 (2021). https://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/15/1/000511/000511.html .

“Maya and Mia At La La Land.” Screenworks 10:1 (2019). http://screenworks.org.uk/archive/volume-10-1/maya-and-mia-at-la-la-land.

“America is (not) Cool.” [in]Transition Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Image Studies 5:3 (2018). https://doi.org/10.16995/intransition.11454.

Amanda McQueen and Jenny Oyallon-Koloski. “Genre Hybridity and the Dansō No Reijin: The Musical In-Between-ness of Misora Hibari.” In Materializing Musical Cinema: Videographic Approaches to Genre Study. Desirée J. Garcia and Jenny Oyallon-Koloski, eds. Lever Press (forthcoming).

“American Delsartism, gestural meaning, and crafting genre performances in Florence Lawrence’s early Biograph films.” In Crafts, Trades, and Techniques of Early Cinema. Ian Christie et al, ed. Michigan, 2024. 388–408. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14468539.

“Danceploitation, musical disruption, and synergy in Saturday Night Fever, Flashdance, and Breakin’.” In Musicals at the Margins: Genre, Boundaries, Canons. Martha Shearer and Julie Wright, ed. Bloomsbury, 2021. 15–27.

Creative collaborations:

2025. Mentor for the Videographic Workshop on Embedded Images, organized by Clémence Follea and Ariane Hudelet. Université Paris Cité, Paris, France. 10–11 October.

2025. Instructor for the Experimental Dance Film Summer Intensive, in collaboration with Laura Chiaramonte and Joshua Pridemore. Dance at Illinois, Champaign and Urbana, IL. 9–13 June.

Contact

joyallon@illinois.edu

217-300-7050

Jacqueline Hitchon

Professor

Affiliations

Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
Institute of Communications Research

Education

B.A. (Oxon) Modern Languages & Literature, Oxford University, England
M.A. (Oxon) Modern Languages & Literature, Oxford University, England
M.B.A. Graduate School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ph.D. Graduate School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Contact

hitchon@illinois.edu

217-333-1602

Chang-Dae Ham

Professor

Affiliations

Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising
Institute of Communications Research
Informatics, School of Information Sciences
Center for Social & Behavioral Science

Education

Ph.D., Journalism-Advertising, School of Journalism, University of Missouri
M.A., Advertising, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida
M.B.A., Marketing, School of Business, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
B.A., Media Communication, College of Social Science, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea

Course Specialties

Innovations in Advertising (ADV 360/460/590)
Digital Advertising (ADV 490/590)
Advertising Management Planning (ADV 491)
Audience Analysis & Advertising Media Planning (ADV 483)
Advertising Research Method (ADV 281)
Graduate Research Seminar I (ADV 587)
Quantitative Research Method in Advertising (ADV 581)

Background

Dr. Ham joined Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising in 2010 as a tenure-track faculty. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Ham worked in the advertising industry for ten years as an account executive, account planner, and Internet marketing consultant at LG AD (HS AD), a major advertising agency in Korea. During the time, he managed diverse integrated marketing communication projects for clients such as LG electronics, Baskin Robbins, and many others, collaborating with diverse domestic and international agencies, media, and digital vendors including Google Double Click, Naver, Dentsu, and so forth.

He has served as Director of Graduate Studies in Advertising (2020-2023); Executive Director, Global Professional Training Program (2011-); Associate Editor, International Journal of Advertising and Asian Journal of Communication; Vice President, American Academy of Advertising (AAA); Chair of Research Committee, American Academy of Advertising (AAA; 2021-2023); Chairs in Special Topic, Professional Freedom & Responsibility (PF&R), and Co-Chair of Pre-Conference, Advertising Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC; 2022-); and Vice President, Korean American Communication Association (2015-2017).

Awards

2024 Runner-Up, Best Paper of the Year, 2023, Journal of Interactive Advertising, recognized at the Annual Conference of American Academy of Advertising (AAA), Portland, OR.

2024 Adviser, Dissertation Award (Woojin Kim), American Academy of Advertising (AAA), Annual conference, Portland, OR.

2023 Best Reviewer of the Year of 2022, International Journal of Advertising, recognized at the Annual Conference of International Conference on Research in Advertising (ICORIA), European Advertising Academy.

2023 Best Paper of the Year, 2022, Journal of Interactive Advertising, recognized at the Annual Conference of American Academy of Advertising (AAA), Denver, CO.

2023 Charles H. Sandage Scholar in Advertising Research, Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2022 James W. Carey Faculty Fellow for Research, Institute of Communications Research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2022 Most Influential Articles in 2021 by the editors of journals of the American Academy of Advertising (AAA)

2022 Best Paper of the Year, 2021, Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, recognized at the Annual Conference of American Academy of Advertising (AAA), St. Petersburg, FL.

2022 Best Paper of the Year, 2021, Journal of Interactive Advertising, recognized at the Annual Conference of American Academy of Advertising (AAA), St. Petersburg, FL.

2021 Best Research Paper, 2nd place, Global Colloquium, Korea Advertising Society (KAS), Kangwon-Do, Korea

2019 Research Fellowship Award, American Academy of Advertising (AAA), Annual conference, Dallas, TX.

2018 Top faculty research paper, open research category, Advertising division, 2nd place, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Annual conference, Washington D.C.

2017 The fourth most read/downloaded article of the year in 2016, International Journal of Advertising, recognized at the International Conference on Research in Advertising (ICORIA), Annual conference, European Advertising Academy, Ghent, Belgium.

2017 Top faculty research paper, Advertising division, 3rd place, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Annual conference, Chicago, IL.

2016 The second most read/downloaded article of the year in 2015, International Journal of Advertising, recognized at the International Conference on Research in Advertising (ICORIA), Annual conference, European Advertising Academy, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

2015 Top faculty research paper, Public Relations division, 4th place, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Annual conference, San Francisco, CA.

2014 Top faculty research paper, Advertising division, 3rd place, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Annual conference, Montreal, Canada.

2012 Top faculty research paper, Mass Communication & Society division, 4th place, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Annual conference, Chicago, IL.

2011 Top faculty research paper, Advertising division, 2nd place, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Annual conference, St. Louis, MO.

2009 Top research paper in Scholar-to-Scholar session, International Communication Association (ICA) Annual conference, Chicago, IL.

Research and Creative Endeavor

Dr. Ham has explored how consumers cope with, and steel themselves against, diverse persuasion tactics in digital, throughout the lens of consumers’ marketplace metacognition, social intelligence, persuasion inference, media literacy, and mind perception. His research topic includes, but not limited to, native advertising, online video advertising, online behavioral advertising, corporate social responsibility, and political advertising literacy. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and/or book chapters in advertising, marketing, and communication. Currently, his research focuses primarily on consumers’ coping mechanism with data-driven advertising, algorithmic advertising, and artificial intelligence marketing.

Contact

cdham317@illinois.edu

217-333-3773

Mira Sotirovic

Associate Professor Emerita

Affiliations

Department of Journalism

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996
Master of Arts, Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Faculty of Political Science, Department of Journalism, University of Belgrade-Yugoslavia, 1984

Course Specialties

Media & Public Opinion
Research Methods in Journalism
Newsgathering & Reporting
News Media & Propaganda
Science Journalism

Contact

sotirovi@illinois.edu

217-333-7833

Steve Hall

Senior Lecturer

Affiliations

Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

Education

MS, Advertising, University of Illinois
BS, Business Administration/Marketing, University of Illinois

Course Specialties

Introduction to Advertising
AAF National Student Advertising Competition Campaign
Short Term Study Abroad

Background

Steve currently teaches the Introduction to Advertising course, a Weston Exploration Freshman Discovery advertising class and special topic Advertising Campaign courses with national and global client brands. Steve is the faculty advisor for the largest American Advertising Federation (AAF) student chapter in the country, NSAC advisor, and member/past chair of the AAF National Academic Committee. He has also served on the AAF Board of Directors. On campus, he is a member and past Chair of the University of Illinois Career Services Council, serves on the campuswide Coordinating Committee for Illinois Leadership and is on the University of Illinois Undergraduate Sub-Committee for Campus Discipline. Additional service includes:

Faculty Advisor, American Advertising Federation
UI Teaching Advancement Board, Faculty Senator, Advertising Department Advisory Committee
Industry Immersion Faculty Leader – LA, NY, SF, Portland, Seattle, Chicago
Study Abroad Faculty Leader London, Paris, Munich, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Rome, Florence
National Advertising Review Board – Chair. AAF National Executive Education Committee Member + Past Chair
UI Career Services Council – Past Chair. Coordinating Committee for Illinois Leadership
AAF Board of Directors, AAF Faculty Advisor, NSAC Advisor, Vance L. Stickell Internship Board of Directors

He and his wife, Kristen, have two daughters—Madison and Kennedy.

Bears. Cubs. Yankees. Illini. Golf. Warhol. Classic Rock. Espresso. Parmigiano Reggiano. Cabernet Sauvignon.

Awards

National Distinguished Advertising Educator Award, American Advertising Federation
Campuswide Teaching Excellence Award, University of Illinois
Teaching Excellence Award, Charles H. Sandage Department of Advertising

No posts found.

Contact

shall@illinois.edu

217-333-0439

Margaret Yee Man Ng

Associate Professor

Affiliations

Department of Journalism
Institute of Communications Research
Department of Computer Science
Cline Center for Advanced Social Research
Center for Digital Agriculture
National Center for Supercomputing Applications
Center for Social and Behavioral Science

Education

PhD in Journalism, 2018, University of Texas
MA in Journalism, 2014, University of Missouri
BSSc in Journalism and Communication, 2012, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Course Specialties

Data Journalism and Data Visualization
Multimedia Editing and Design

Background

Ng is a media researcher with certified industrial training (Galvanize) in data science and database tools. Broadly speaking, her research examines technology use, social media, and information diffusion using large-scale, unstructured data and computational methods. Particularly, she explores three distinctive yet interrelated components of the web: user behavior, embedded structures, and content framing.

She works closely with United Nations Global Pulse, an innovation initiative of the UN Secretary-General to harness big data and emerging communication technologies for sustainable development and humanitarian action. Before earning a Ph.D., she worked as a news artist at National Geographic Magazine and The Seattle Times and a data reporter for The Center for Public Integrity. During her doctoral study, she was an advanced analytics intern at Pew Research Center’s Data Labs. She was born and raised in Hong Kong.

Contact

ymn@illinois.edu

217-300-8186

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