2022 in Review: Research & Expertise

Editor’s Note: This is part of our six-part series highlighting stories produced by Grady College in 2022. The features include stories in each of the following subjects:

• Student Successes
• Faculty Honors
• College Headlines
• Research & Expertise
• Service & Partnerships
• Alumni Spotlight

This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, but instead highlight a sample of just a few of the hundreds of stories about accomplishments by our students, faculty/staff and alumni. We invite you to visit our Grady College News page for a full list of features posted in 2022.

Grady College is home to faculty members who are constantly growing and improving their fields through research and practice. Below are just a few updates in the category of research and expertise from 2022:

Grady College launched a new research podcast: In early September, the Grady Research Radio podcast debuted, highlighting the research and expertise coming out of Grady College. The podcast features concise conversations with faculty members at Grady College and shines a light on their research and proficiencies, as well as the College’s labs. 

A sample of the podcast’s published episodes include: interviews with Journalism faculty on Grady College being named a Solutions Journalism Hub, a conversation with Dr. Glenna Read of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations (AdPR) about her Brain Body and Media (BBAM) Lab, an interview with the Journalism Department’s Dr. Karin Assmann about her Qualitative Research Lab, discussions with Dr. David Clementson and Joseph Watson Jr. of AdPR about the state of political debates and advertisements, an interview with the Department of Entertainment and Media Studies’ (EMST) Dr. Shira Chess about her research in the field of game studies, a conversation with Dr. Keith Herndon and Charlotte Norsworthy of the James M. Cox Jr. Institute about the new Certificate in News Literacy, and an interview with Dr. Alexander Pfeuffer of AdPR about personalization and disclosures in digital advertising.

Keith Wilson produced “I Didn’t See You There:” EMST lecturer Keith Wilson‘s new film “I Didn’t See You There” won the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The film had its theatrical opening at the Firehouse Cinema in New York City on Sept. 30 and its Georgia premiere at Ciné on Oct. 19. It follows a disabled filmmaker who launches into an unflinching meditation on spectacle, (in)visibility and the corrosive legacy of the Freak Show, after a circus tent goes up outside of his Oakland apartment.

Booker T. Mattison wrote and directed “The Sound of Christmas:” Booker T. Mattison, an assistant professor in EMST at Grady College, wrote and directed “The Sound of Christmas,” a holiday film that debuted on the streaming service BET+ on Nov. 24, Thanksgiving Day. The film stars Grammy-winning recording artist Ne-Yo and Serayah (“Empire”) in a story about a widower who falls in love with a music teacher who brings love and music back to the family during the holidays. It is based on the novel “The Replacement Wife” by Tiffany L. Warren, who is a friend of Mattison’s and recommended him to write and direct the story.