Research and Community Involvement

Research

Our faculty’s published works have looked at television’s bad boys, analyzed the convergence of Hollywood and video games, examined American use of second screens while watching TV, dug deeper into local Native American history, examined the lives of classic film stars, and made communication law more accessible.

 

Our Faculty

Our faculty is the right balance of academic researchers and industry professionals. In fact, many faculty members are both. Meet the faculty.

Community Involvement

We have a long history of community involvement. Here are just a few of our recent projects:

Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay

Working in partnership with the Indiana Office of Tourism Development and guided by Media lecturer Chris Flook, two teams of students traveled through 260 cities and all 92 Indiana counties documenting the Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay. The students captured photos, videos, and interviews during the six-week event. The following December, the documentary team debuted its 37-minute piece, Everlasting Light: The Story of Indiana's Bicentennial Torch Relay. The project has won multiple awards, including the Leader Award from the Summit Emerging Media competition. See the full list.

Unmasked: The Stigma of Meth

Media instructor Terry Heifetz and journalism Instructor Juli Metzger led a class of 27 students in a unique multiplatform, cross-disciplinary, semester-long immersion project. The project included a website, print edition, public radio series, and public television documentary. The project won several awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists’ Region 5 Mark of Excellence winner for Television In-Depth Reporting.

Community Quinceañera

Dr. Maria Williams-Hawkins partnered her Media students with BSU’s Latinx Student Union (LSU) to host a free quinceañera for local families. LSU members organized the celebration, and Media students were on hand to document the event and record interviews with parents. Funding for the first-time event came from Latinx Student Union and a College of Communication, Information, and Media grant. See highlights.

WTHR Media Analytics Project

The Media Promotion and Management concentration offered an immersive learning class titled "Audience and Consumer Analytics: Consulting for Local Media Outlets." The class project, funded by a National Association of Television Program Executives Summer Faculty Development Grant, asked the student team to research and evaluate the digital audiences of WTHR, the Indianapolis NBC affiliate. Students evaluated the performance of WTHR’s digital audiences, identified potential threats, assessed growth, and provided metric-driven insights. At the end of the project, WTHR's digital content director distributed the class report to all relevant directors and the general manager.