Research News

Four UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media graduate students and two faculty members will present their research Nov. 16-19 at the National Communication Association 109th Annual Convention in National Harbor, Maryland.

A vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research culture at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creates new knowledge, advances scholarship and helps reinvent media.

Numerous students, faculty members and alumni are in Washington, D.C., this week, representing the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the 106th Annual Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference.

Even before U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a dire warning this spring about the loneliness epidemic in America, two UNC researchers had already teamed up to work on a solution. Loneliness is the absence of social connection, and even before the separations brought about during the Covid-19 pandemic, one in two Americans reported experiencing loneliness. Barbara Fredrickson, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, studies the health benefits of positive emotions and positive connections for decades. In a new research project, she has paired up with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media’s Associate Professor Allison Lazard, an expert in how visual design influences message perception, especially in a digital environment.

Kristen Harrison, professor of communication and media at the University of Michigan, joins the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media on July 1, 2023, as the school’s Richard Cole Eminent Professor. “We are proud to welcome Kristen Harrison to our UNC Hussman community,” said Raul Reis, dean of the school. “Kristen is an esteemed scholar focused on media psychology, particularly children and media. She adds yet another dimension to the school’s depth of faculty thought leadership across diverse disciplines. We are excited to call her our Carolina colleague.” Harrison, who earned her doctorate in communication science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been a full professor at Michigan since 2011. An expert in media’s effects on children, she has consulted with Sesame Workshop and PBS Kids, and her research has been supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the William T. Grant Foundation.

A vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research culture at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creates new knowledge, advances scholarship and helps reinvent media. This latest roundup includes four publications and a conference presentation by Assistant Professor Lee McGuigan, whose book about digital advertising is set to be published in July. More details on "Selling the American People" are listed below, along with a list of other recently published or presented scholarship by UNC Hussman faculty and students.

Leading health communication scholar and UNC Hussman Professor Seth Noar was named an ICA Fellow at the recent 2023 International Communication Association Conference in Toronto May 25-29, 2023. The honor recognizes distinguished scholarly achievement and contributions to the broad field of communication.

Ten graduate students, eight faculty members, Dean Raul Reis, one staff member and various alumni will represent the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media May 25-29 at the 73rd annual International Communication Association Conference, held in Toronto. These scholars will participate in panel sessions and present authored or co-authored papers.

UNC Research's Endeavors magazine published this article highlighting how UNC Hussman Ph.D. student and former U.S. Army member Daniel Johnson uses his research on mental health in the military to effect policy change at the national level.

A vibrant and collaborative interdisciplinary research culture at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media creates new knowledge, advances scholarship and helps reinvent media.