Contact Information
Biography
Shai is a PhD student in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. She is a Florida native, and enjoys cooking and traveling.
Research Interests
Mixed Methods, Entertainment Media and Social Change, Social Media, Social Norms, Narratives and Perspective Transformation
Research Description
Shai is a critical media effects researcher. Her doctoral work employs mixed methods to investigate the consciousness raising potential of entertainment media and social media in reducing gender-based violence. She specifically investigates how people make sense of unlabeled and ambiguous experiences with sexual violence, focusing on nonconsensual condom removal.
Education
Master of Arts (MA) in Communication, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (Summa Cum Laude)
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Editing, Writing, and Media, (minor in Psychology), Florida State University (Summa Cum Laude)
Bachelor of Science (BS) in International Affairs (minor in Religion), Florida State University (Summa Cum Laude)
Grants
Friends Travel Grant (2022, 2023, 2024)
National Communication Association Student Caucus Travel Grant (2023, 2024)
Graduate College Conference Travel Award (2021)
Awards and Honors
Women of Color in Leadership Fellow, The National Women's Studies Association
Dale Brashers Memorial Fellow, The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Department of Communication Distinguished Fellow, The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Wayne Brockriede Graduate Fellow in Communication, The University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
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