Research

Grady Research

Research at Grady College

Pursuing effective messages and stories that have a broad impact.

Faculty and graduate students at Grady College are recognized for their innovative research, critical thinking and thought leadership. From global communication studies and press freedom, to communicating with virtual reality, eye tracking and social media listening, we are leaders in pursuing effective messages and stories that have a broad impact. 

A few of our areas of specialty include:

Crisis communications — led by Dr. Yan Jin who also directs the Crisis Communication Think Tank.

Health & risk communications — led by Dr. Glen Nowak, one of the leading experts on communcations about vaccination acceptance. 

Message testing — featuring our Psychophysiology Suite, which includes eye-tracking equipment, as well as measures for heart and brain response for visual and audio stimulus.

Social media analytics and emerging technologies — featuring our SEE Suite, a social media listening and analytics lab dedicated to studying the messages people are talking about online.

Virtual reality and augmented reality — led by Dr. Grace Ahn, who is directing a $3.3 million grant project right now testing the effectiveness of virtual reality in rewarding children for meeting physical fitness goals.

We invite you to review our areas of expertise and see how we can collaborate on your next project. 

Research Articles

IDOLS
Neil Landau is co-Executive Producer on the live action feature film IDOLS that completed production in Spain and is currently in post-production. Warner Bros is distributing in November 2025. 
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BUFFALO KIDS
Neil Landau’s most recent animated feature film BUFFALO KIDS was nominated for a Gaudi Award in Spain. 
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Ugly Sweater
Lauren Musgrove’s directorial debut feature film, “Ugly Sweater,” was selected for the Pan-African Film Festival and will have its Los Angeles Premiere on February 12, with a second screening on February 15. […]
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International Perspectives on Crisis Communication Education: Service Learning, IMC, Mock Press Briefings, and Grad Programs, Oh My!!
Jingyuan (Jimmy) Kong (M.A. student). “International Perspectives on Crisis Communication Education: Service Learning, IMC, Mock Press Briefings, and Grad Programs, Oh My!!” Invited conference panel presentation at International Crisis and Risk […]
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Innovative Topics on Research in Sustainability and Advertising
Hye Jin Yoon will participate in the Special Topics Panel titled “Innovative Topics on Research in Sustainability and Advertising” at the American Academy of Advertising, Pittsburgh, PA, in March 2025.
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TV Writing On Demand: What’s Next 
Neil Landau was invited to give (remote) lectures on his new book, TV Writing On Demand: What’s Next (Focal Press/Routledge), sponsored by the following organizations: The International Screenwriting Association, CoverFly/ScreenCraft/ FinalDraft, Cal State […]
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Netflix Korea and the Global-Local Entanglements
Benjamin Min Han, “Netflix Korea and the Global-Local Entanglements,” Center for Korea Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, December 2, 2024.
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Can Memes be Leveraged to Improve Audience Response to Film Advertising Posters? The Impact of Incongruity Between Film Type and Poster Meme Type
Haoyue Xiang (Ph.D. student) and Hye Jin Yoon, “Can Memes be Leveraged to Improve Audience Response to Film Advertising Posters? The Impact of Incongruity Between Film Type and Poster Meme Type.” […]
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Crises of Passion: Ideology, Activism, Negative Partisanship and the Challenge to Public Relations
Lucas Bernays Held, W. Timothy Coombs, and Yan Jin. “Crises of Passion: Ideology, Activism, Negative Partisanship and the Challenge to Public Relations.” Accepted for presentation at International Public Relations Research Conference […]
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Grady Research Radio Podcast

Grady Research Radio highlights the research and expertise coming out of Grady College, advancing knowledge, innovation and creation in the fields of journalism, advertising, public relations, and entertainment and media studies. It is produced and hosted by Jackson Schroeder, public relations specialist at Grady College.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher.

The Latest

Read the newest headlines, get updates and discover events happening at Grady.

Headshot of Nicholas Eng with Faculty Research header.

Nicholas Eng studies human emotions in environmental and health message design

Nicholas Eng has long been interested in emotion science and prosocial environmental and health messaging. How people respond emotionally to different sequences of positive and negative environmental messages is the […]

Carolina Acosta Alzuru stands on the Schnitzer Family Media Lawn outside of Grady College.

Carolina Acosta-Alzuru receives 2024-25 Fulbright Distinguished Scholar Award

Dr. Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, a professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, has received a Fulbright Distinguished […]

A news slider with a red background and a photo of Hye Jin Yoon. It has text with the episode name: "The power of humor in advertising."

The power of humor in advertising, with Dr. Hye Jin Yoon

Listen to the full episode on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Dr. Hye Jin Yoon (MA ‘06, PhD ‘10) is an associate professor of advertising in the Department of Advertising and […]

A graphic with an image of Ruoyu Sun that says "Faculty Research."

Study shows the impact of environmental corporate social responsibility communication

With the rising threats of climate change and environmental degradation, many companies and organizations have instilled sustainability goals over recent years. But, how can they effectively motivate employees to engage […]

Perspectives

“My favorite memory as a Ph.D. student was working as a senior researcher at Grady College’s Digital Media Attention and Cognition (DMAC) Lab. The team would pitch study ideas and work collaboratively to bring those projects to fruition. It was honestly so cool to conduct eye-tracking studies, meet over Jittery Joe’s coffee, and then apply our individual strengths to share our work with others in the field.”

Camila Young

Ph.D. ’20, Social Research Scientist, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Perspectives

“It’s exciting to see our student journalists wanting to engage with larger questions about the future of the industry and journalism’s role in society. CURO is a great way to support these emerging scholars as they take their first steps into research.”

Karin Assmann

Assistant Professor, Journalism