Cara Finnegan is a Professor in the Department of Communication. She joined the university in 1999 after completing her Ph.D. at Northwestern University. She holds affiliated appointments in the Center for Writing Studies, Gender and Women's Studies, and Art History. She was named a University Scholar in 2017.

Finnegan's research examines the role of photography as a tool for public life. Photographs are powerful forms of communication: they visualize social issues, make visible those who are often invisible, and foster or limit bonds of identification. Her book-length projects are best described as rhetorical histories of photography, in that she variously examines the production, composition, circulation, and reception of photographs at specific moments in U.S. history. Her most recent book, Making Photography Matter: A Viewer's History from the Civil War to the Great Depression was published by University of Illinois Press in 2015. She is currently completing a book on the history of photography and the U.S. presidency, which will be out in late 2020 or early 2021.

Finnegan's ideas about photography have been featured in a variety of publications in the fields of Communication and U.S. History, as well as in popular media outlets such as the New York Times, CBS, and Vox. 

During the 2019-20 academic year, Finnegan will be a member of the University of Illinois system's inaugural class of Public Voices Fellows. This innovative program, offered in collaboration with the OpEd Project, is designed to expand the public reach of faculty research and expertise.