School of Communication Studies Hosts Summer Scholar

Professor focuses on media images, messages and how they shape view of the world

David R. Ewoldsen, Ph.D., a pre-eminent communication scholar on how our perceptions of the world are shaped by media images and messages, will present the Summer Scholar Seminar at Kent State University. Ewoldsen will speak on "Racism and the Media: A Complex Relationship" at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 12. The presentation, in Room 146 at Taylor Hall, is open to the public.

"Over 40 years of research suggests that the media influences how we understand and perceive our world.  Today, as people grow even more dependent on the media, it is critical that we understand how the media influences our perceptions of the world," Ewoldsen says.

Ewoldsen, a professor in the School of Communication and Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University, will also lead a two-credit seminar on "Cultivation Theory: Multiple Perspectives" Aug. 13-17. The graduate-level seminar will be held in Taylor Hall. The seminar and presentation are sponsored by the School of Communication Studies and the L. LeRoy Cowperthwaite Communication Lecture Series.

"David Ewoldsen is among the most widely published and respected researchers in exploring how media messages and images shape our view of what we perceive to the real world. This includes how we use media, including social media, and how they shape our opinions of differing social, ethnic, and religious groups," says Mei-Chen Lin, Ph.D., graduate coordinator for the School of Communication Studies at Kent State.

Ewoldsen co-founded the journal Media Psychology in 1998 with Jennings Bryant, Ph.D. In 2005, Media Psychology had the second highest impact factor of the 44 communication journals listed by Social Science Citation Index. Ewoldsen stepped down as co-editor of Media Psychology in 2007. He was the founding editor of the journal Communication Methods and Measures, which he edited until 2010.

Ewoldsen has published approximately 90 articles and book chapters, primarily dealing with the media. His publications have appeared in many research journals including Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Health Psychology, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs, Media Psychology,Journal of Advertising, and Cyberpsychology and Behavior. Ewoldsen has also edited three books: Communication and Emotion (with Jennings Bryant and Joanne Cantor), Communication and Social Cognition: Theories and Methods (with Jennifer Monahan) and The Handbook of Communication Science (with Chuck Berger and Michael Roloff).

Ewoldsen is active in several professional organizations. He chaired the Information Systems Division and Mass Communication Divisions of the International Communication Association, and Communication and Social Cognition Division of the National Communication Association.

Ewoldsen earned a joint Ph. D. degree in psychology and speech communication at Indiana University in 1990. Ewoldsen was a postdoctoral fellow in the cognitive sciences program at Vanderbilt University from 1990 to 1991. Ewoldsen served in the Departments of Communication Studies and Psychology at the University of Alabama from 1991 to 2008 where he was he was the Reese Phifer Professor of Communication Studies in the College of Communication and Information Sciences from 1997 to 2004. Ewoldsen was also an adjunct faculty member of the Department of African American Studies at the University of Alabama.