Contact Information
Research Interests
Entertainment Media and Social Change, Political Culture, Digital Media, Gendered Violence, Mixed Methods Research
Research Description
Shaimaa's research centers media psychology and gendered violence, 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 mixed methods approach to the study of social problems, with a transformative and abolitionist perspective.
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
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, forthcoming). Between consent and coercion: A grounded theory of communication and meaning-making after ambiguous sexual violations. Communication Monographs.
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