Focus: Narrative Storytelling and Critical Studies

Grady knows the importance of telling a good story. Critical scholars at Grady are constantly monitoring and evaluating the media and its role in culture. Areas of particular focus are research on the history, theory and practice of alternative media and democratic communication. Critical-cultural research at Grady includes immersive studies of Latin American television series, research in Diasporic media cultures and the use of comedy in narrative political satire.

Kohn

About: Dr. Kohn teaches advanced screenwriting, producing for film/television, documentary film, and qualitative methods; directs the Cannes Film Festival and Cannes Lions Study Abroad Programs; directs Roger Ebert’s Film Festival; and produces feature films and television programs.

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Education

Ph.D., Communication, University of Illinois, May 1995
M.S., Radio/TV, University of Illinois
A.B., English Composition/Literature, University of Illinois

Research Interests and Activities

His scholarly interest include qualitative methodology, celebrity, writing for the screen, autobiography, new technologies and critical tourism as viewed through the interpretive prisms of cultural studies, critical theory, post-colonial theory, and the new ethnography.

Teaching Specialties

Dr. Kohn teaches courses in writing for the electronic screen, producing for film and television, and cultural studies.

Experience

Dr. Kohn produced Zulu Dawn starring Burt Lancaster and Peter O’Toole; the independent feature Somebodies, which premiered at Sundance (2006); Rain, the Bahamas’ first indigenous feature which premiered at Toronto (2007) and on Showtime (2010); the feature film Bottleworld (2010); he was Executive Producer on the BET television series Somebodies (2008); he was Producer on the feature length documentary Bayou Maharajah that premiered at the SXSW Festival (2013); he produced the Emmy Award-winning short documentary Ebertfest 2012; and he was Executive Producer on The 73^rd, 74^th and 75^th Annual Peabody Awards Specials for PivotTV/Participant Media (2014, 2015 and 2016). He has served on juries and mentored screenwriters at the Atlanta, Hawaii, Kerala, and Bahamas International Film Festivals. He is a board member of the Arkansas Cinema Society. And he is the author of numerous scholarly articles and of the book Pursuing Hollywood: Seduction, Obsession, Dread (AltaMira Press, 2006).

Kavoori

About: Dr. Kavoori is currently engaged in a program of autoethnographic and narrative writing.

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Education

MFA, Narrative Non-Fiction writing, University of Georgia (currently enrolled).
Study in A Second Discipline (Ecology), University of Georgia.
Ph.D., Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Maryland, College Park.
M.A., Cultural Anthropology, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.
B.A. Sociology, Hindu College, University of Delhi, India.

Research Interests and Activities

Dr. Kavoori works in the field of Transnational Cultural Studies. He has written or edited ten books and over fifty single (or co-authored) journal articles and book chapters on the subject of media and culture in a global context. His work has appeared in Media, Culture and Society, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Journal of Communication, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Cultural Studies / Critical Methodologies, Global Media and Communication, American Journalism, International Journal of Cultural Studies amongst many others. His books include The Logics of Globalization; Thinking Television and Global Bollywood. He is also the author of two books of fiction, including a novel, The Children of Shahida.

UGA-Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) Faculty Mobility Grant Anandam Kavoori

Anandam (Andy) Kavoori was awarded a UGA-Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) Faculty Mobility Grant ($4,500) for a week-long workshop with the Munich Science Communication Lab (https://www.mscl.de/) at LMU. In addition, he will work […]

Investigating Ecological Legacies in Amazonian Forests Anandam Kavoori and John Weatherford

Proposal written with Florida Institute of Technology. Dollar Amount: $117, 832.

Asia’s shifting television landscapes Anandam Kavoori

Chadha, K. & Andy Kavoori (forthcoming). “Asia’s shifting television landscapes” in Kim. Y (ed.) Media in Asia (Routledge). This article explores television landscapes in Asia. Exploring both past and emergent […]

Re-making the World: Autoethnographic Interventions Anandam Kavoori

Abstract: This collection of autoethnographic eco-poetry offers a pedagogical vision for environmental education in an age of Climate Change (and its denial). The poems reflect on the author’s efforts at […]

Cricket, Media and the Nation: An autoethnographic exploration of three mediated moments in Indian cricket. Anandam Kavoori

Andy Kavoori (2021): Cricket, Media and the Nation: An autoethnographic exploration of three mediated moments in Indian cricket. Abstract: This autoethnographic essay explores the media and cultural construct of key […]

Dull as Dachau Anandam Kavoori

Andy Kavoori (2021). Dull as Dachau. Abstract: Dull as Dachau is a reflexive, autoethnographic account of the contrived engagement of American undergraduates (from a privileged background) of a class-mandated visit […]

Investigating Ecological Legacies in Amazonian Forests John Weatherford and Anandam Kavoori

Proposal for “Investigating Ecological Legacies in Amazonian Forests’ submitted to NSF’s HEGS (Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences) Program. Dollar Amount: $ 117, 832 (over three years). Kavoori and Weatherford will be […]

Submitted Grant Anandam Kavoori

Kavoori, A. (Science Communication / Storytelling Lead). Proposal to NSF (25 million dollars over five years) for the creation of an ERC (Engineering Research Center) for Clean and Equitable Battery […]

Other Notables Anandam Kavoori and Taylor Cole Miller

Andy Kavoori has been selected for a Fulbright award. He will serve as the Garcia-Robles-Fulbright Distinguished Chair in U.S. Studies at the Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico for the Spring […]

Enhancing the understanding of tropical biodiversity: Developing conceptual models and underwater videos for communicating the importance of riparian-river connections in food webs in the Brazilian Pantanal Anandam Kavoori

“Enhancing the understanding of tropical biodiversity: Developing conceptual models and underwater videos for communicating the importance of riparian-river connections in food webs in the Brazilian Pantanal.” Global Research Collaboration Grant […]

Global Postmodernity, World Music and the discourse of Authenticity: Insights from the Buena Vista Social Club Anandam Kavoori

Abstract: This paper is a textual accounting of the world music phenomena (Buena Vista Social Club) across the realms of music, YouTube, social media and industry commentary. It develops a […]

The Dreams of Nations: An Ethno-Story Anandam Kavoori

Abstract: This post-colonial “Ethno-story” narrative is a contribution to new modes of narrative storytelling within the tradition of auto-ethnography, identity politics and subaltern studies. Written as an exemplar, it weaves […]

Teaching Specialties

Dr. Kavoori teaches a range of courses—Environmental Communication, Writing for Digital Media, Digital Storytelling, International Communication, Race, Gender and Media amongst many others. He directed Grady’s Costa Rica study abroad program from 2014 to 2019.

Experience

Dr. Kavoori has been a consultant to News Corporation, CNN International, Discovery Channel, amongst others. He was a faculty judge for The George Foster Peabody Awards for over twenty years. Dr. Kavoori has taught in study abroad programs developed by Grady/ UGA (Oxford University, Costa Rica and Cambodia), the UNO/ University of Innsbruck program in Austria and held a visiting position at Korea University (Seoul, Korea). Before joining academia, he was a journalist with media organizations in India and the United States.

Awards and Fellowships

Dr. Kavoori has been a Lilly Teaching Fellow and Mentor at UGA. In addition to awards for teaching in the Grady College, he has been nominated for both the Russell and Meigs Teaching Awards at UGA. He was a Service Learning Fellow and has been nominated by the Grady College (on three occasions) for the Distinguished Research Professorship at the University of Georgia. He was also invited to be a member of the UGA Teaching Academy.

Jones

About: Dr. Jones directs the George Foster Peabody Awards, and is Lambdin Kay Professor in the Entertainment and Media Studies Department. His research specialty is television studies, with a focus on popular politics, satire and parody. He is the author and editor of five books, including Entertaining Politics: Satiric Television and Civic Engagement (2nd ed.), Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era, and The Essential HBO Reader.

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Education

PhD: Radio-TV-Film, University of Texas at Austin (1999)
MA: Political Science, Auburn University (1993)
BA: Political Science, Auburn University (1985)

Research Interests and Activities

Dr. Jones helped establish the field of Political Entertainment Television and Popular Politics. He is the author and editor of five books, including Entertaining Politics: Satirical Television and Political Engagement, 2nd ed. (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010); Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era (NYU Press, 2009); News Parody and Political Satire Across the Globe (Routledge, 2012); The Essential HBO Reader (University Press of Kentucky, 2008). He is also the author of almost 30 articles and book chapters on the intersections of popular culture and politics.

Teaching Specialties

Dr. Jones teaches classes in Television Studies, Media and Politics, Popular Culture, Documentary Tradition, Media Studies, Theory and Methods in Critical/Cultural Studies, and Critical Analysis of Journalism.

Hamilton

About: Dr. Hamilton teaches cultural, critical, and historical approaches to media studies. His research addresses alternative media and democratic communication.

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Education

Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of Iowa
M.A., Communication, University of Washington
B.A., English/Communication, University of Washington

Research Interests and Activities

Dr. Hamilton’s research focuses on the history, theory and practice of alternative media and democratic communication. A central goal of his project is, first, to develop a historicizing critique not only of specific practices of democratic communications but also of their conceptualizations and forms. Second, but equally importantly, the project seeks to recontextualize, retheorize, and thus reconstitute the possibilities of democratic communications in the current era of digital media, globalization, and perpetual political, economic, and ecological crises. Dr. Hamilton’s books include “Democratic Communications: Formations, Projects, Possibilities” (Lexington Books, 2008; paperback edition 2009); “Alternative Journalism” (Sage, 2009), which is co-written with Chris Atton (Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland); and “Explorations in Critical Studies of Advertising” (Routledge, 2017), co-edited with Robert Bodle, and Ezequiel Korin. He continues to publish research in leading journals such as Media, Culture, and Society, Critical Studies in Mass Communication, and Media History, and present his work at a variety of major academic conferences.

Terrains of Media Work; Producing Amateurs and Professionals in the 19th-Century United States. Jay Hamilton

Abstract: This article investigates the reproduction of the foundational terrain of media work as composed of amateur and professional realms through the youth movement of amateur journalism in the late 19th-Century […]

Panelist on “The Voice Catchers: How Marketers Listen In to Exploit Your Feelings, Your Privacy, and Your Wallet.” Jay Hamilton

Abstract: This Author Meets Critics conversation (with Edward Timke, Duke University; Mara Einstein, Queens College, CUNY; Nora Draper, Univ. New Hampshire) focuses on Joseph Turow’s book The Voice Catchers: How […]

Drone Journalism as Visual Aggregation: Toward a Critical History Jay Hamilton

Hamilton, Jay. “Drone Journalism as Visual Aggregation: Toward a Critical History.” Media and Communication 8(3), 2020. https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3117/3117 Abstract: The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs—commonly referred to as drones) in […]

Editor of themed section: “Independent Media Centers 20 Years On” Jay Hamilton

Jay Hamilton is the editor of themed section: “Independent Media Centers 20 Years On.” Media, Culture & Society 42, no. 6 (September 2020). https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/mcsa/42/6

Teaching Specialties

Dr. Hamilton teaches cultural, critical and historical approaches to media studies. He holds an appointment to the Graduate Faculty. Dr. Hamilton has taught First-Year Seminars and in the Grady@Oxford study abroad program. A research paper written by an undergraduate student he mentored in the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities program won the prestigious national Alfred E. Seaman Award from the Advertising Education Foundation. Additional awards earned by former students include major international professional awards (such as an AKQA Future Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity) and scholarly awards (Dissertation of the Year from three major scholarly organizations.) In 2014 he was appointed a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor, the University’s most prestigious teaching honor to recognize superior teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Hamilton is also the recipient in 2003, 2009 and 2013 of the Grady College Roland Page Outstanding Faculty Award, which honors excellence in teaching at the graduate level.

Experience

Prior to joining the Grady College, Dr. Hamilton taught at the State University of New York College at Geneseo, the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and at the University of Iowa. In addition, he has worked as a copywriter for Corporate Communications at Microsoft Corp., and as a training coordinator at the law firm of Piper & Marbury L.L.P.

Chess

About: Shira Chess teaches courses in media studies and media writing. Her research focuses on digital media studies with an emphasis on gender and gaming.

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Education

Ph.D., Communication and Rhetoric, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
M.A. Media Arts, Emerson College
B.A. English, The University of South Florida

Research Interests and Activities

Dr. Chess’ research interrogates the intersections between gender studies and video game studies. In particular, she has written extensively on games that target women audiences. Additionally, she has researched several other topics in digital media including research on “slenderman” memes and pervasive gaming such as the Google game Ingress. Her research has appeared in Journals such as Critical Studies in Media Communication, New Media & Society, Feminist Media Studies, and Information Communication & Society.

Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic, November 2022 Shira Chess

Valerie Boyd, editor, Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic, November 2022. For a terrific review of Valerie’s book, see: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/14/valerie-boyd-life-work-alice-walker

Bejeweled Shira Chess

Shira Chess. “Bejeweled.” In B. Perron, K. Boudreau, M.J.P. Wolf, D. Arsenault (eds.) Fifty Key Video Games. New York, Routledge, 2022. Abstract: Bejeweled is one of the most ubiquitous of […]

The future of media studies is game studies Shira Chess

Shira Chess and M. Consalvo. “The future of media studies is game studies,” Critical Studies in Media Communication, 2022, 39:3, 159-164, DOI:10.1080/15295036.2022.2075025 Abstract: Game studies, as a subfield of media […]

How to: Play Like a Feminist in 2020 Shira Chess

Chess, S. (2020). “How to: Play Like a Feminist in 2020.” Plenary Keynote presentation for the Electronic Literature Organization. (Conference was moved online due to COVID-19.) July 17, 2020. Abstract: […]

Play like a Feminist by Dr. Shira Chess Shira Chess

Description: “You play like a girl”: it’s meant to be an insult, accusing a player of subpar, un-fun playing. If you’re a girl, and you grow up, do you “play […]

Effectiveness of a Branching Narrative to Positively Impact Messaging Around Sexual Assault Shira Chess

Abstract: Sexual assault affects one in four women in the United States. Recent studies show that college is the time when sexual assaults are most likely to occur. Prevention involves […]

). Casual Bodies are Hybrid Bodies. In Hybrid Play: Crossing Boundaries in Game Design, Player Identities, and Place Spaces. Shira Chess

Abstract: “Casual game” is an industry term that is often used derisively or dismissively—it is a catch-all meant to indicate a style of play but is often deployed like a […]

Book Chapter: Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and Feminism Shira Chess

Abstract: Kim Kardashian has received much attention for her media empire, including her game, published by Glu Mobile. The game’s premise plays a role in what I characterize as “Feminine […]

The end of casual; long live casual. Shira Chess

Abstract: When we discuss games, as a culture, the games under discussion are often presumed almost always a “core” (or “hardcore”) games. However, video games are change rapidly. The market […]

This is What a Feminist (Game) Looks Like. Shira Chess Paper to be presented at the International Communication Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.

As video games become an increasingly mass medium — not intended for niche audiences but deployed with different genres, styles, and platforms — it is an apt time to rethink […]

Dark Play in Paradise: Stardew Valley and the Negotiation of Abuse. Shira Chess Paper to be presented at the International Communication Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.

Stardew Valley, on its surface, appears to be yet another invest-express farming game; players grow crops, tend to animals, mine, fish, and do other idyllic tasks that make it almost […]

Book Chapter: Not So Straight Shooters: Queering the Cyborg Body in Masculinized Gaming Shira Chess

Abstract: This chapter offers a “diffractive” consideration (Barad 2003) of posthumanist and cyberfeminist theory, masculinity studies, and research on gender and gaming, that views digital play between straight white men […]

Book Chapter: Neko Atsume: Affective Play and Mobile Casual Gaming Shira Chess

Abstract: In this article, I consider the role of affect in the popular app game Neko Atsume. Neko Atsume is a “cat collector” game where players leave food and toys […]

The end of casual; long live casual Shira Chess

KIm is my new BFF: The Looking Glass Celebrity Shira Chess

Abstract: Mobile-based celebrity games are a byproduct of a new, more feminized video game industry. Within celebrity games, the player engages with celebrity culture in a variety of ways, often […]

Teaching Specialties

Dr. Chess’ teaches courses that focus on both understanding and creating digital and traditional media. Prior to teaching in Grady College, she taught at Miami University of Ohio and worked as a game developer and web designer.

Acosta-Alzuru

About: Carolina Acosta-Alzuru teaches public relations, cultural studies and qualitative methods. Scholarship foci: melodramas (telenovelas and Turkish dramas), culture and society.

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Education

Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of Georgia
M.A., Mass Communication, University of Georgia
B.S., Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology

Research Interests and Activities

Dr. Acosta-Alzuru specializes in critical and cultural studies, international communication and women’s studies. She is the author of the books Venezuela es una Telenovela (Alfa, 2007), La incandescencia de las cosas: Conversaciones con Leonardo Padrón (Alfa, 2013) and Telenovela Adentro (Alfa, 2015), and has authored or co-authored articles in Journalism and Mass Communication Monographs, The Journal of Communication, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Journal of Public Relations Research, Popular Communication, International Journal of Cultural Studies, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Mass Communication and Society, Learning to Teach: What you need to know to develop a successful career as a public relations educator, The Global Dynamic of News and The Women’s International Studies Encyclopedia. In addition, she has presented her work at numerous mass communication conferences.

Teaching Specialties

Dr. Acosta-Alzuru teaches public relations and cultural studies. She teaches an undergraduate course about telenovelas, culture and society.

Experience

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Dr. Acosta-Alzuru taught previously at the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello in Caracas.

Grants

2000-2001 UGA Research Foundation junior faculty grant for: “Telenovelas: A Comprehensive Study of the World’s Most Watched TV Genre”
2004-2005 Center for Humanities and Arts junior faculty grant for: “Producing and Consuming a Telenovela in a Time of Crisis: The Case of Cosita Rica”
2005-2006 Center for Humanities Research Fellowship
2008-2009 Grady College Faculty Support Grant “The production and local reception of a telenovela when global distribution matters more than local consumption”
2015 Fulbright Specialist Grant to teach at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Chile

Awards and Fellowships

Grady Fellowship Recipient (2020).
Ronald Page Teaching Award. Each year the graduate students of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication select a faculty member who exemplifies the high standards of teaching and concern for students demonstrated by Roland Page (2018).
Scripps Howard/AEJMC Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year (2015).
National finalist, Scripps Howard Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year (2013, 2014).
Grady Fellowship Recipient (2012).
Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship, University of Georgia’s highest teaching award (2010).
University of Georgia’s Teaching Academy induction (2009)
Top Two Faculty Paper, Cultural and Critical Studies division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago, IL (2008)
Roland Page Teaching Award (2008).
Darwin Davis Award Inaugural recipient. The award was established by an endowment from Dean Cully Clark and his wife, Mary, to annually recognize a member of the Grady College faculty or staff whose performance reflects those qualities of dedication and friendship that best capture the Grady Spirit (2007)
Roland Page Teaching Award (2004).
University of Georgia’s Richard B. Russell Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (2003).
Advertising/Public Relations Department Teacher of the Year (2003).
Roland Page Teaching Award (2002).
James E. Murphy Memorial Award, top faculty paper in the Cultural and Critical Studies division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (2001).
Top Faculty-Student Paper, Public Relations division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (2001)
Top Three Paper, Educators Academy, Public Relations Society of America (2001).
Lilly Teaching Fellow. One of nine assistant professors selected to this prestigious university program. Participants are exceptional teachers who are interested in further developing the teaching and learning environment in the courses they teach (2001-2002).