Research and Creative Work
Mass Communications faculty are active researchers and creative professionals whose work spans journalism, strategic communication, media production, and digital media studies. Our research informs our teaching and connects students to the evolving media landscape.
$1.9M+ In Funded Research
2 Fulbright Scholars
6 Research Areas
Peabody + Emmy Award Winners
Research Areas
Media, Identity & Representation
How media shapes and reflects identity across gender, race, sexuality, and culture — from advertising's portrayal of masculinity to LGBTQ representation in news coverage to the effects of sexualized media on adolescents.
- Dr. Gary Hicks — LGBTQ media representation, press criticism, media ethics
- Dr. Suman Mishra — Multicultural marketing, consumer culture, gender in advertising
- Dr. Ashton Gerding Speno — Media effects, sexualization, adolescent sexting, gender
- Dr. Elza Ibroscheva — Gender and media, post-socialist media, visual culture
Digital Media, Games & Virtual Environments
How people interact with and through digital platforms — from livestreaming communities and virtual reality to parasocial relationships and online identity.
- Dr. Alex Leith — Game studies, livestreaming (Twitch), parasocial relationships, VR/VRChat
- Dr. Undrah Baasanjav — Internet governance, digital divide, linguistic diversity online
Global & Transnational Media
Media systems, policy, and communication across national boundaries — from ICT policy in developing nations to cross-cultural advertising and photojournalism history.
- Dr. Musonda Kapatamoyo — ICT policy in Africa, data analytics in journalism, algorithmic discrimination
- Dr. Shi Li — Chinese photojournalism history, visual communication, media history
- Dr. Suman Mishra — Transnational media, global advertising, #MeToo movements
- Dr. Undrah Baasanjav — Media development in Mongolia, digital policy
Strategic Communication & Health
How media messages influence audiences in health, crisis, and persuasive contexts.
- Dr. Suman Mishra — Crisis communication, health messaging
- Dr. Ashton Gerding Speno — Health communication, media framing of body image
- Dr. Jason Yu — Advertising, consumer behavior, visual communication
Documentary & Creative Production
Original film, video, and audio work that tells stories about communities, culture, and social issues.
- Tom Atwood — Documentary filmmaking (Peabody Award, Emmy Award winner)
- Cory Byers — Screenwriting, narrative production, documentary (Emmy-nominated)
Journalism Practice & First Amendment
Student journalism, newsroom management, and the defense of press freedom.
- Tammy Merrett — Student media advising, First Amendment advocacy (Ingelhart Award recipient)
- Dr. Mark Poepsel — Media law, journalism ethics, propaganda and memes, sports journalism
Selected Recent Publications
| Faculty | Publication |
|---|---|
| Mishra | Mishra, S., Moody, M., & Vasquez, R. A. (2025). Black-owned business and passionate brand publics: A netnography of The Honey Pot Company PR crisis. Public Relations Review, 51(1). |
| Mishra | Matuku, S. M., & Mishra, S. (2025). Climate justice and other news frames in the coverage of climate change in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. African Journalism Studies, 46(1). |
| Speno | Speno, A. G. (2026). Content analysis and television. Encyclopedia of Measurement in Social Sciences. |
| Baasanjav | Baasanjav, U. (2025). Information Society and Media Development in Modern Mongolia. Amsterdam University Press. |
| Speno | Aubrey, J. S., Gahler, H., Daniels, E. A., Choi, H. J., & Speno, A. G. (2024). Examining relations between sexualizing media exposure and sexting attitudes and behaviors among US adolescents. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 53(10). |
| Baasanjav | Baasanjav, U., Nielsen, P. E., & Myagmar, M. (2024). Patronage media in post-communist Mongolia. Central European Journal of Communication, 17(2). |
| Mishra | Badea, L., Șerban-Oprescu, G. L., Iacob, S. E., Mishra, S., & Stanef, M. R. (2024). Artificial intelligence and the future of work. Amfiteatru Economic, 26(18). |
| Kapatamoyo | Kapatamoyo, M. (2024). Artificial intelligence in natural resources management: Selected case studies from Africa. |
| Li | Li, S. (2024). Between state and society: The transformation of China's photography in the 1980s. Photographies, 17(3). |
| Poepsel | Poepsel, M. A., Malo, A., Obuekwe, C., et al. (2024). “Tears have never won anyone freedom:” a multimodal discourse analysis of Ukraine's use of memes in a propaganda war. Online Media and Global Communication, 3(1). |
| Leith | Foxman, M., Beyea, D., Leith, A.P., et al. (2022). Beyond genre: Classifying virtual reality experiences. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(3). |
| Leith | Leith, A.P. (2021). Parasocial cues: The ubiquity of parasocial relationships on Twitch. Communication Monographs, 88(1). |
Select Grants and Awards
- $179,837 — Film and TV Workforce Development Grant. Supports the department's Film and TV Workforce Training Program.
- $70,458 — NSF Future of Work (FW-HTF-R), 2021-2025. Virtual meeting support for game developers. Part of a $1.6M multi-university collaboration. (Leith, Co-PI)
- $192,840 — Croatian Science Foundation, 2021-2025. Sexting among adolescents and youth. (Speno, Co-Investigator)
- $100,000 — Children and Screens, 2018-2020. Predictors and consequences of sexting. (Speno, Co-Investigator)
- $15,000 — Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, 2018. Greater China photography research. (Li)
- Fulbright Scholar — Mongolia, 2022. Informational resilience and online agency. (Baasanjav)
Awards & Recognition
- George Foster Peabody Award — Tom Atwood, Under the Influence (1993)
- Emmy Award — Tom Atwood, Outstanding Public Affairs, Invisible Weapons (2003)
- Best of Festival — Cory Byers, BEA Festival of Media Arts, The Fifth Story (2022)
- Louis E. Ingelhart First Amendment Award — Tammy Merrett, College Media Association (2018)
- Going Endowed Professorship Award — Gary Hicks, CAS, SIUE (2022)
- Vaughnie Lindsay New Investigator Award — Ashton Gerding Speno, SIUE (2022)
Creative Works
Department faculty produce original documentary, narrative, and multimedia work that screens at national and international festivals:
- Sanctuary (2017) — Cory Byers. 2 Mid-America Emmy nominations, Best Local Short at St. Louis International Film Festival.
- The Case for Open Data (2019) — Tom Atwood. Documentary short.
- The Fifth Story (2022) — Cory Byers. Feature screenplay. Best of Competition & Best of Festival, BEA; Austin Film Festival finalist.
- Global Village — Student news-magazine show produced in the department TV studio, executive produced by Cory Byers since 2009.
