Contact Information
Research Interests
Entertainment Media and Social Change, Political Culture & Consciousness, Digital Media, Gendered Violence, Transformative Learning
Research Description
Shaimaa's research centers consciousness, gendered violence and media psychology, looking at how entertainment media and cultural narratives shape social cognition. She is interested in how media can invite audiences into different social realities, fostering empathy, belief change and shifts in worldview to reduce harmful social norms. She takes a transformative mixed methods approach to the study of complex social problems.
Education
M.A., Communication, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
B.A., English & Psychology, Florida State University
B.S., International Affairs & Religion, Florida State University
Awards and Honors
- Ruth Anne Clark Fund Research Award, Dissertation research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Brant R. Burleson Fund Research Award, Dissertation research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Department of Communication Distinguished Fellowship, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Dale Brashers Memorial Fellow, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Wayne Brockreide Graduate Fellow in Communication, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- President's Research Travel Award, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Graduate College Research Travel Award, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Claudia Hale Research Travel Award, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Listed in Teachers Ranked as Excellent (FA20, SP21, FA21, SP22, FA22, SP24, FA24, SP25, FA25), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- Summa Cum Laude, Florida State University (2019) & University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2022)
Courses Taught
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- CMN 101: Public Speaking
- CMN 250: Social Movement Communication
- CMN 340: Visual Rhetoric
- CMN 368: Sexual Communication
Florida State University
- HUM 1920 - Freshman Interest Group
Additional Campus Affiliations
Gender and Women's Studies Department
Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory
Recent Publications
Khanam, S. (2026). Between consent and coercion: A grounded theory of communication and meaning-making after ambiguous sexual violations. Communication Monographs, https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2026.2637435
Smith, M., Shugars. S., Khanam, S., Mbonu, A., Lella, O., Myers., C. (2025). The black pill: (Re)conceptualizing the Black right in the era of YouTube influencers. Social Media + Society, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251329078