2024-04-17 - Radio ads with an emotional appeal — featuring personal stories of either a happy organ transplant recipient or a sad patient languishing on the waiting list — increase nondonor listeners’ support for organ donation and may be effective at overcoming some of the qualms that deter them from joining the donor registry, a new study suggests. More than 570 African American, Hispanic and white adults...

2024-03-05 - When Danielle Zymkowitz (BS, ’11, communication) was playing on a travel softball team in California during high school, she and several of her teammates were aggressively recruited by Ohio State. But then Illinois coach Terri Sullivan suddenly showed up close to midnight following a grueling late-night loss. “I was so tired, but Coach...

2024-02-12 - White people surveyed in a recent study indicated they would be more likely to confront those who post racist content on social media if their objective were to defend the norms for political discussions rather than to change the person’s prejudiced beliefs.  Communication professors Stewart M. Coles ...

2024-02-02 - Charee Thompson and Gabriella Tscholl have earned undergraduate teaching awards from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. The two were among just 14 instructors and advisors selected by the College as recipients of the extremely competitive awards. “We are proud to have such an impressive group of people advancing our vital teaching and advising goals,” said Venetria K. Patton, the...

2024-01-12 - Couples with differing political views and identities face unique challenges in their consumption of news, which can create significant stress on their relationship, communication professor Emily Van Duyn found in a recent study.

2023-08-01 - Posting videos about intimate relationships to social media platforms may affect offline relationships, according to a case study of the “couch guy” video by Emily Mendelson, a graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Each year, the Department of Communication presents the Illinois Tradition Awards to recognize outstanding students whose achievements embody excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service. Earlier this month, both graduate and undergraduate students were honored in separate ceremonies. The department presented the undergraduate winners with their awards in a virtual...

Cecilia Espinosa, a sophomore majoring in communication and political science with minors in Spanish and business, has been selected as a Key into Public Service Scholar by the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. The award recognizes students who have demonstrated interest in working in the public sector and possess a strong academic record in the arts, humanities, mathematics, and natural...

Travis Dixon, professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Communication, will present the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean's Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 4 pm in Foellinger Auditorium. The event will be livestreamed. A reception will follow from 5-6 pm. Dixon's lecture, "The Centrality of Media Stereotyping and How It Impacts Us," will...

The Health Communication Online Master's (HCOM) Program and the Department of Communication are pleased to announce that Professor Gary L. Kreps of George Mason University will deliver this year's Dale Brashers Memorial Lecture. Sponsored by the HCOM program, the Dale Brashers Memorial Lecture...

Professor Emeritus Joseph Wenzel passed away on December 30, 2021. The department is greatly saddened by this loss. Joe was a respected scholar, teacher, leader, and mentor, and a wonderful member of our community for many decades. And he remained engaged with us throughout his retirement. His obituary, crafted by his family, is shared below. Joseph W. Wenzel, 88, of Champaign passed away at 2:...

Popular wisdom suggests that the internet plays a major role in shaping consumers’ political attitudes in the U.S., and some recent studies blamed partisan news outlets’ coverage for the increasing polarization of the nation’s electorate. However, a study of 1,037 internet users during the 2018-19 U.S. midterm election found that online partisan media may have little direct impact on consumers...

Communication Majors Continue to Secure Internships During COVID-19: Director Kate Ditewig-Morris discusses the success of the Department’s Internship Program As a socially distanced fall semester nears its end, students are applying for spring and summer internships. Before the COVID-19 health crisis, students could gain real-life work experience by interning at office spaces and networking...

The recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor by current and former police officers compel us both to condemn these specific acts as well as recognize and acknowledge the long history of systemic racism and anti-Black violence that perpetuates them. In doing so, we must also acknowledge that systemic racism and anti-Black violence take place in our own...

The images in the media have been strong and often disturbing in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. We process them through our biases, both conscious and unconscious. That’s the domain of Travis Dixon, who studies media stereotypes and their impact as a professor of communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He spoke with ...