News and Announcements
02.21.12 (10:49 a.m. EST):Many happenings! First, congratulations to my WVU M.A. advisee Gregory Cranmer for being officially accepted into our Ph.D. program as of Fall 2012. Already, we have several projects planned related to the intersection of sports and mass media research, and it will be a fun journey to be sure. Second, we've now opened our Media and Interaction Lab at WVU, of which I'm very eager to start running data in the coming months with myself and my WVU COM691I "New Media and Society" course. I'm busy planning upcoming research with colleages here and the US, and I have registered for ECA Cambridge (MA), SSCA San Antonio, and ICA Phoenix this year. So look me up, and be in touch! 10.24.11 (9:44 p.m. EST): Just realizing that it's been a few months since I last updated the web site. Mainly, I've been keeping busy with the research blog "On Media Theory..." and working into my new position here at West Virginia University. Recent, I was named to the Graduate Faculty of the Department of Communication Studies, and I'm eagerly preparing for my first graduate course offering New Media and Society. Beyond that, I'm hoping to see many of you at the 2011 NCA Convention in New Orleans, were I'll be keeping a very busy presentation schedule, including a Top Paper Award for a study on morality and media entertainment done in conjunction with colleagues in Germany (all thanks to Dr. Sven Joeckel and Leyla Dogruel for their continued support and friendship). I'll be at NCA for the week, including a pre-conference presentation for the Urban Communication Foundation, so I do hope to see you there! Oh...and GO CARDINALS! #11in11
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About me
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A graduate of Michigan State University (Ph.D Communication, '10), I am an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies in the Eberly Collegel of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University. In my scholarship, I study the psychology of communication technology and its implications for human communication. My current research looks to replicate and extend the work on selective exposure and mood management theory to video game play. Along with this, recent work of mine has examined the effects of audience presence on video game performance, the appeal of violent content in video games and films, naturally-mapped video games and the formation and implementation of mental models. You can read up on my research activities here.
In addition to these research interests, I am particularly intrigued with newer communication technologies, such as social media and other communication platforms. A central tenet of my research is that the most important feature of media is not the content or the technology, but the user - and I use this approach to understand how we interact with technology, what we gain or lose from it, and how it affects us. Having grown up with technology constantly around me, I am in constant awe at how "going tech" has affected society. As a side note, check out my Twitter [here] or FaceBook [here].
Along with my research, I maintain a research blog, "On Media Theory...", which I encourage anyone with an interest in entertainment media research to visit often. The blog is particularly useful for engaging in discussions with colleagues from around the globe; it has been a very fun and fruitful pet project that I hope only continues to grow.
In the Fall of 2010, I started a small consulting operation where I work with academics and professionals alike on research design and quantitative statistical analysis. Early projects include a design consultation looking at studying mindfulness interventions for primary schoolchildren and a data analysis contract looking at how early- and late-generation immigrants are affected by narratives of immigrant struggle. More information on my consulting projects can be found here.
Outside of academia, I'm a former sportswriter and an avid sports fan. I am an all-too-passionate supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals (baseball); but I will play and watch just about any athletic event; so far, the most fun I've had in any competition was a trial luging run in Muskegon, MI. My favorite season of the year is college football season, where I pull for my alma mater Michigan State University and my new school West Virginia University. Having lived in Michigan for the better part of the last decade, I have slowly become a hockey fan as well; especially my Michigan State Spartans. If you haven't checked these teams out, you don't know what you're missing! Outside of this - and in true media scholarship "research is mesearch fashion" - I'm also a collector of comic books [Excel, last updated 02.20.10] and video games [Excel file coming soon].
