Student Opportunities

An environment of endless curiosity

How effective are public service announcements at reducing sexual assault on campus? How do Israeli and American late-night comedy shows respond to threats to freedom of the press? How does Twitter define Blackness?

Our students are asking and answering these questions and more through work alongside faculty members, in Media School courses and with the help of our Institute for Communication Research. They publish papers and book chapters and present at conferences.

Join our community of student scholars, and start answering your own questions.

12student-authored papers presented at the 2021 International Communication Association conference

8student-authored papers presented at the 2021 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference

Access cutting-edge technology

Equipment available for your studies includes:

  • BIOPAC MP150 and MP160 systems and AcqKnowledge software to collect heart rate, skin conductance and facial muscle activity
  • Tobii Pro TX300 and Tobii Pro X2-60, and Tobii Studio software for eye tracking
  • IMotions facial coding of emotions and eye tracking
  • Emotiv EPOC EEG Headset and Testbench software to collect brainwave activity
  • Dialsmith Perception Analyzer 30-dial system to collect continuous response perception and attitude
  • SnapStream service to record from DirecTV for provision of video and transcription content for research and classroom purposes
  • Apollo Video Technology video and audio recording system for focus group and interview observation data collection
  • MediaLab and DirectRT and E-Prime and Qualtrics experiment and survey software
  • MAXQDA Analytics Pro software for qualitative, quantitative and statistical data analysis research
  • MPlus, SPSS, Amos and R software for statistical analysis
A student researcher places electrodes on a participant at a computer station.

Institute for Communication Research

Center

The Institute for Communication Research is a top-notch research facility used by Media School students and faculty to conduct research and analyze data. The institute’s mission is to enable social scientific research conducted by Media School students and faculty.

It encourages and welcomes research of all focuses and from students of all media backgrounds. Whether you’re a journalism graduate wanting to study film, or a game creator tailoring research to game design, the ICR is equipped with state-of-the art, industry-grade media studies technology and will provide you a platform to explore and research your media fascinations.

Visit the ICR's website

Student work

Sara Miller and Allie Hitchcock

Muckraking’s origins

Allie Hitchcock and Sara Miller

As seniors, Allie Hitchcock and Sara Miller presented their paper, “A Torrent Suspended in Midstream: The Short Life and Long Death of McClure’s Magazine,” at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication/American Journalism Historians Association joint conference.

Read the paper’s abstract
Brent Hale

Vlogging cancer

Brent Hale

Doctoral student Brent Hale’s study, “Vlogging Cancer: Predictors of Social Support in YouTube Cancer Vlogs,” published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, contributes to a body of research that could lead to doctors recommending patients vlog in clinical settings.

Read the article

Common Ground

Media School graduate students host an annual campuswide conference on the study of media. Student researchers participate in panel presentations and workshops.

Learn more about Common Ground
A woman stands at a podium.

Take an independent study course

MSCH-X498 for undergraduates and MSCH-J804 for graduate students allow you to earn credit for conducting research under the guidance of a faculty member.

Attend research meetings

Our weekly research colloquium and ICR weekly research meetings, both held on Fridays, feature research presentations and discussions.

Join the Academic Honors Program

Complete a senior thesis under the guidance of a faculty member as a student in this program for top-performing undergraduates.