Contact Information
Research Description
Shaimaa Khanam is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her work focuses on how entertainment media, social media, and cultural narratives shape social cognition. Her doctoral thesis employs mixed methods to investigate prosocial perspective transformation stemming from media exposure, specifically in reducing gender-based violence. Her previous works investigate how people make sense of unlabeled and ambiguous experiences with sexual violence, focusing on nonconsensual condom removal.
Keywords: Mixed Methods, Entertainment Media and Social Change, Social Media, Social Norms, Narratives, Transformative Learning
Education
M.A. Communication, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Champaign, IL (Summa Cum Laude)
B.A. Editing, Writing, and Media (Minor: Psychology). Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Summa Cum Laude)
B.S. International Affairs (Minor: Religion). Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Summa Cum Laude)
Grants
Ruth Anne Clark Award (2025)
Brant R. Burleson Award (2025)
Friends Travel Grant (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
National Communication Association Student Caucus Travel Grant (2023, 2024)
Claudia Hale Travel Award (2023)
UIUC Graduate College Conference Travel Award (2022)
Awards and Honors
Women of Color in Leadership Fellow, The National Women's Studies Association (2023-2025)
Dale Brashers Memorial Fellow, The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (2022-2026)
Department of Communication Distinguished Fellow, The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (2022-2026)
Wayne Brockriede Graduate Fellow in Communication, The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (2020-2022)
Elizabeth Winter Young Summer Fellowship (2021)
Courses Taught
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign:
CMN 250 - Social Movement Communication
CMN 368 - Sexual Communication
CMN 340 - Visual Rhetoric
CMN 101 - Public Speaking
Florida State University
HUM 1920 - FIG Colloquium (FSU)
Additional Campus Affiliations
UIUC Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory
UIUC Gender and Women's Studies Department
Shai also volunteers and collaborates with the Champaign County rape crisis center (RACES: Rape, Advocacy, Counseling, and Education Services).
Recent Publications
Smith, M., Shugars. S., Khanam, S., Mbonu, A., Lella, O., Myers., C. (forthcoming, 2025). The Black Pill: (Re)conceptualizing the Black Right in the Era of YouTube Influencers. Social Media and Society