2025-10-08
- Political misinformation or disinformation was the key reason for some U.S. couples’ recent divorces or romantic breakups, a new study found.Emily Van Duyn, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, conducted in-depth interviews with 28...
2025-09-17 - Cycles of deployment and reintegration can be stressful, disruptive times for military spouses and their families. Although the Department of Defense and its military communities offer a number of formal resources to help military spouses cope during these challenging periods, very few of those who participated in a recent study said they actually used them. Only 16.5% of those in the study had...
2025-09-04 - Communication professor Charee Thompson was one of five professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to be named University Scholars in recognition of their achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service.The program honors faculty excellence and provides $15,000 to each scholar for three years to enhance their academic careers. That money may be used for travel, equipment,...
2025-06-23 - It’s not always easy to strike up a conversation with strangers, especially after years of remote classes and increasingly digital communication.That’s why communication professor Lisa Guntzviller gives students the chance to practice their conversation skills in a real-world setting in her Introduction to Interpersonal Communication course.As part of an extra-credit opportunity, participating...
2025-06-13 - Doctoral student Victoria Fields has been awarded a K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award from the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The award recognizes graduate students who show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education and are committed to academic innovation in equity, community engagement, and teaching and learning.“This year’s recipients truly embody the...
2025-05-15 - Bonnie Kim’s long road to earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois is coming to an end. Since spring 2024, when she returned to campus after 45 years to wrap up her coursework, she’s felt something like a time traveler, studying as a full-time college student at a university that’s so familiar and yet so dramatically different than it was in the late 1970s. After all,...
2025-05-14 - Lindsay Bitner-Mitchell, a first-year student who is majoring in communication, was one of two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students to receive places in the Fulbright Commission’s Summer Institutes program — a selective summer scholarship...
2025-04-08 - It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Mary Strum on March 11, 2025. Mary was a member of the Department’s Office Staff for nearly 20 years, from 2001 to 2019. She served as the graduate program coordinator, assisting eight directors of graduate studies through those years.Graduate students during those years may remember Mary as their first department contact, as she...
2025-02-14 - Communication alumnus Paul M. Lisnek (BA, '80; MA, '80; PhD, '86, speech communication; BA, '80, political science; JD, '83) has earned a College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Alumni Achievement Award.Lisnek has built a unique career, becoming both a prominent legal consultant and television and radio...
2025-02-07 - Communication doctoral candidate Katherine Bunsold earned a teaching award from the College of LAS. Bunsold was among 16 professors, graduate students, lecturers, and advisors selected as recipients of the 2025 LAS teaching and advising rewards."We are honored and fortunate to have so many amazing teachers and advisors in the College of LAS,” said Venetria K. Patton, the Harry E. Preble Dean of...
2025-01-27 - By leveraging the Department of Communication’s expertise, the University of Illinois’ new Speakers Workshop is furthering the university’s mission of producing graduates who exemplify professionalism, authenticity, and leadership. The director of the workshop, Laura Stengrim, brings more than 20 years of experience...
2025-01-24 - John M. Murphy, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studies the history of American public address and political rhetoric. Murphy spoke with News Bureau research editor Sharita Forrest about President Donald Trump’s second inaugural address and how the rhetorical devices that presidents use...
2024-12-20 - Doctoral students Emily Mendelson and Megan Jacobs Farnworth were awarded the Donald P. Cushman Memorial Award by the National Communication Association for their essay titled “Disclosure-Related Social Support and Reappraisals as a Result of Sharing Abortion Experiences with Close Others.” The award honors the top-ranked student-authored paper from all NCA units that competitively rank papers...-
2024-12-13 - Emily Van Duyn, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studies the effects of social, geographic, and political polarization on human relationships and is the author of the book “Democracy Lives in Darkness: How and Why...
Brilliant white male characters more believable, some viewers say in communication professor's study2024-11-22 - Brilliant characters often play key roles in movies and TV shows. However, when these characters are played by women and people of color, some audience members dismiss them as unrealistic, even if they portray real people and events, a recent study found. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign communication professor ...