Faculty Type: PhD student

Hatfield

About: Haley R. Hatfield is a PhD student in Mass Communication concentrating in Advertising at the University of Georgia. Haley’s research explores race-related media effects with an emphasis on Whiteness and virtual environments. With their background in digital art (MFA ‘17, Louisiana State University), Haley develops virtual experiences coupled with psychophysiological measures to examine attitudes influenced by Whiteness to promote prosocial behaviors and anti-racist attitudes. Haley works closely with the Games and Virtual Environments Lab (GAVEL) and the Brain, Body, and Media Lab (BBAM).

Haley is a recipient of the 2022 AEJMC Collaborative Scholars Grant program, Top Papers in the Human Communication & Technology Division at the 2021 NCA 107th Annual Convention, and the Information Systems Division at the 2022 ICA 72nd Annual Conference.

Haley enjoys coaching youth softball and having too many plants.

A link to Haley’s personal website is available here.

Education

M.A. in Media Arts and Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
M.F.A. in Fine Arts (Digital Art), Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
B.F.A. in Fine Arts (Digital Art), Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

Publications:

Hatfield, H. R., Ahn, S. J., Klein, M., & Nowak, K. N. (2022). Confronting whiteness through virtual humans: A systematic review of 20 years of research in prejudice and racial bias using virtual environments. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 27(6), https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmac016

Conference Presentations:

Hatfield, H., Hoa, H., Klein, M., Fu, Y., Zhang, K., Kim, J., Lee, J., Ahn, S. J. (May 25-29, 2023). Composition of and Collaboration Among Communication Scholars in Twenty Years of ICA (2000-2022) [Paper to be presented]. International Communication Association 73rd Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada.

Hatfield, H. R. & Read, G. L. (2022, November 17-20). Toward Creating Safer Social Virtual Space [Paper presentation]. National Conference Association 108th Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Youn-Heil, A. & Hatfield, H. R. (2022, November 17-20). Actions over Intentions: Understanding the associations of insufficient news coverage and racial discrimination on acts of activism [Paper presentation]. Political Communication Division of the National Conference Association 108th Annual Convention, New Orleans, LA, United States.

Hatfield, H. R., & Ahn, S. J. (2022, May 26-30). Do Black Lives Matter in the Empathy Machine? Investigating Whiteness and Immersion on Creating a Shared Reality with 360-Degree Video [Paper presentation]. International Communication Association 72nd Annual Conference, Paris, France. ** Top Paper in the Information Systems Division

Hatfield, H. R., Ahn, S. J., Klein, M., & Nowak, K. N. (2021, November 18-21). Confronting whiteness through virtual humans: A systematic review of 20 years of research in prejudice and racial bias using virtual environments [Paper presentation]. National Communication Association 107th Annual Convention, Seattle, WA, United States. ** Top Paper in the Human Communication & Technology Division

Hatfield, H. R. (2020, September 8-9). Whiteness and Virtual Reality [Paper presentation]. Political Communication Division of the 116th American Political Science Association PreConference, Online. ** Supporting Projects Aimed at Representation and Knowledge (SPARK) award

James

Brown James is a first-year Ph.D. student at Grady College. Using primarily qualitative methods, such as discourse analysis and media ethnography, his research specifically examines the intersection of news media and the American legal system, ranging from the Supreme Court down to local law enforcement.

Before coming to UGA, Brown served as a court coordinator for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit in Georgia, and afterwards was a deputy executive director for an education based non-profit organization. Brown also served seven years in the United States Coast Guard Reserves where he was a coxswain and tactical boat crewman. He served in both the Carolinas and Mississippi, and was also deployed to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Papers and Conference Presentations

James, M. B. (2023, March 3). Violent incongruencies: Analyzing the New York Times’s discourse on George Floyd demonstrations and the Capitol riot. Paper presented to the Newspaper & Online News Division at the 48th annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Southeast Colloquium (SEC), Murfreesboro.

Educational Background

M.A., Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A., Political Science, The Citadel

Klein

Leslie Klein is a Ph.D. student in Grady College concentrating in Journalism. Her research explores the intersection of media law and scholastic journalism. She aims to use her research to advocate for student speech and press rights. Before going back to school for her master’s, she taught high school English, yearbook, and journalism for four years.

Publications:

Klein, L., & Johnson, B. G. (2022). A test of free speech: Applying the ethics of care to coverage of Snyder V. Phelps. Journal of Media Ethics, 1-15.

Klein, L. (2022). Censorship, copyright and community: How JEA members discuss journalism law in their community of practice. Communication: Journalism Education Today, 55(4), 43-51.

Perreault, G., Peters, J., Johnson, B. G., & Klein, L. (2021). How journalists think about the First Amendment vis-à-vis their coverage of hate groups. International Journal of Communication, 15, 18.

Perreault, G., Johnson, B. G., & Klein, L. (2020). “Covering hate: Field theory and journalistic role conception in the reporting on white nationalist rallies.” Journalism Practice.

Conference Presentations:

Klein, L. (2022, August). “Change is inevitable:” How safety valve theory can expand protections for positively disruptive student expression. Paper presented to the Scholastic Journalism Division at the 105th annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Detroit. Top Student Paper, Scholastic Journalism Division.

Klein, L. & Peters, J. (2022, August). Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. and regulating off-campus student expression: The good news for college student journalists. Paper presented to the Scholastic Journalism Division at the 105th annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Detroit. Top Faculty Paper, Scholastic Journalism Division.

Perreault, G., Peters, J., Johnson, B. G., & Klein, L. (2021, August). How journalists think about the First Amendment vis-à-vis their coverage of hate groups. Poster presented at the 104th annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), New Orleans/Virtual.

Klein, L. (2021, May). “Please don’t kill our entire livelihoods:” An examination of how content creators reacted to the FTC and YouTube settlement and what that means for the future of COPPA. Paper presented to the Communication Law & Policy Division at the International Communication Association (ICA) Annual Meeting, Denver/Virtual. Top Student Paper, Law & Policy Division.

Johnson, B. G., Klein, L., & Fuzy, J., (2020, August). Traditional but open: Research paradigms in communications law, 2010-2019. Paper presented to the Law & Policy Division at the 103rd annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), San Francisco/Virtual.

Educational Background

M.A. in Journalism Law and Conflict Resolution, University of Missouri
B.S. in English Education, Florida State University

Duncan

Jeffrey Duncan is a third-year Ph.D. student focusing on entertainment media law. His research examines the social and physical effects of entertainment media using mixed methods, including traditional legal analysis, cultural studies in entertainment media, and psychophysiological experiments of media use and exposure. Current studies investigate consumer attention, cognition, attitudes, and behaviors on topics including advertising disclosures on social media, contracts in mobile applications and games, and video game loot boxes.

Prior to attending Grady, Jeff practiced law for 5 years in Chicago. His experience includes intellectual property and social media management and litigation, entertainment contracts, and landlord-tenant disputes. He currently teaches an undergraduate course on multiplatform writing and prior served as a teaching assistant in public opinion.

Educational Background

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
M.A., Mass Media Studies, University of Georgia
B.A., Communication Studies, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Ervin

Sara Ervin is a third-year PhD student in Grady College at the University of Georgia, concentrating in crisis communication. Her research interests are in emergency preparedness and disaster management. Specifically, how to mitigate communication issues during crisis and examining the role social media has on disasters. Sara has worked for UGA’s College of Public Health for four years. She received a master’s degree in Mass Communication from Valdosta State University.

Publications

Conceptualization of a Health Care Coalition Framework in Georgia Based on the Existing Regional Coordinating Hospital Infrastructure Authors: C. Harris, T. Waltz, J. Patrick O’Neal, K. Nadeau, M. Crumpton, S. Ervin | Journal: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness December 2015

Educational Background

M.A. in Mass Communications, Valdosta State University
B.S. in Rural Studies, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Primovic

Marilyn Primovic seeks to understand the ways media influences consumer decision making.

Completing both her B.A. in journalism and M.A. in advertising and public relations from the Grady College in four years, Primovic was named Deborah Norville Journalism Scholar, Peyton T. Anderson Journalism Scholar and M. Tyus Butler Journalism Scholar. While a student, she worked as an investigative reporting intern at America’s largest major market news station, WSB-TV Atlanta. She has worked as a marketing assistant for UGA Recreational Sports since 2016, receiving the highest honor in the department, the Michael G. Warren Award, in 2017.

Primovic looks forward to using these experiences to inform persuasive communication research that can be applied to the field.

Binford

Matt Binford is a first year PhD student specializing in journalism and political communications. His research interests typically focus around knowledge gain and retention from nontraditional news sources. Matt’s secondary research interests include looking at how aspects of production impact audience perceptions of media content.

Prior to attending Grady, Matt worked in the music industry doing video for award shows and popular musicians including Twenty One Pilots, Weird Al Yankovic, and Sara Bareilles. Additionally, he worked for a year teaching basic journalism classes at Middle Tennessee State University.

Educational Background

M.S. in Mass Communications, Middle Tennessee State University

B.A. in Electronic Media Communications, Middle Tennessee State University

Sun

Shuoya Sun is a first year PhD student at Grady College. Her research interests mainly focus on how information presented in digital ads and its relation to the context would affect consumers’ attitudes and memory.

Educational Background
M.A., Journalism and Mass Communication, The University of Georgia
B.A., English / Journalism, Communication University of China, Beijing China

Grizzle

Sarah Grizzle is a specialist in environmental communication, media and cultural studies, as well as television and film production. Her research focuses on the protection of the environment using mass communication as a platform for sustainable and positive change for both humanity and the planet.

Sarah is a former wilderness guide, fly fishing instructor, and television producer. After decades of working in the woods, she decided that the stories she was producing did not equal the stories she was seeing. These first-hand experiences with the realities of climate change are what brought her to Grady. Sarah is currently working on a documentary series in conjunction with her dissertation as well as other environmentally based research projects. If you have questions about research details, film and television production, or potential projects, she requests that you email her directly.

Education:

M.Ed., Outdoor Education and Administration, Georgia College and State University
B.A., Political Science, Berry College