MEDIA + InFormation
About US
Media & Information
Information and communication technologies have transformed the world. In our department we study the impacts and uses of these technologies. Our world class games studies, policy studies, and human computer interaction/ usability design (HCI/UX) programs have graduates that are working in companies around the world.
Our Faculty
We have an amazing array of faculty in our department. Master’s students are assigned to a faculty member as their first year advisor. This is based on alignment with the student’s area of research and the availability of the faculty member. We encourage prospective students to look through the areas of research in our faculty as they prepare their research statements so they can visualize how they can best learn in our department
Dr. Michael Stern
Professor
Department Chairperson
Dr. Stern’s areas of expertise include: survey research, information seeking and digital inequality in the context of health. | email
Dr. Ruth Shillair
Assistant Professor
Director of Master’s Program
Dr. Shillair’s areas of expertise include: media management & business, cybersecurity capacity, digital literacy, and media management |email
Dr. Young Anna Argyris
Assistant Professor
Dr. Argyris’s areas of expertise include: survey research, information seeking and digital inequality in the context of health. | email
Dr. Johannes Bauer
Professor
Quello Chair in Media & Information Policy
Dr. Bauer’s areas of expertise include: policy, economics, 5G, cybersecurity, and digital divide issues. | email
Jeremy Gibson Bond
Professor of Practice
Jeremy served the IndieCade independent game festival and conference as the Chair of Education and Advancement, where he co-chairs the IndieXchange summit each year. His areas of expertise include: game design, independent games, Unity, C#. |email
Susan Bonner
Associate Professor
She is the creator of The Road Crew Social Emotional Health Game, which aims to teach young children coping skills for anger, loneliness, and anxiety through an AR experience. Accessible, universal, and inclusive design is at the heart of her teaching, art, design, and the work she produces.
Dr. Celeste Campos-Castillo
Associate Professor
Celeste discovers ways technologies can be designed and implemented so that they mitigate inequalities, particularly with respect to health outcomes and access to health care.| email
Dr. Amanda Cote
Associate Professor and Director of the Serious Games Certificate
She researches the industry and culture of games, with an emphasis on areas such as gender, identity, and representation; game development and labor; and collegiate esports.
Dr. Thomas Day
Instructor
Tom Day has been around MSU since 2006 – from undergrad to professor. Outside of the classroom you’ll find Tom most likely playing video games, watching movies, reading comics/manga, or playing board games. | email
Andrew Dennis
Professor of Practice
Professor of Practice, Andrew Dennis’s areas of expertise include: games, CG, VR development, graphics, and eSports. He is director for the immersive game development lab. | email
Dr. David Ewoldsen
Professor
Director of Ph.D. studies
Dave’s areas of expertise include: media psychology, health communication, attitudes and persuasion. | email
Cory Heald
Professor of Practice
Cory Heald holds an MA in Interactive Design and Game Development from SCAD and has over 20 years of industry experience in the creative field. Cory led production at Underbite Games through design, art direction, modeling, animation, and graphic design.
Ricardo Guimaraes
Professor of Practice
Professor of practice, Ricardo Guimaraes’s illustrations have been showcased at ImagineFX Magazine, Ballistic Publishing’s EXOTIQUE and Photoshop Creative, among many others areas of expertise including: concept design, computer graphic and concept art. | email
Dr. Keith Hampton
Professor
Dr. Hampton studies community and the relationship between digital technologies, social networks, democratic engagement and the urban environment. Dr. Hampton’s areas of expertise include: digital divide, rural Internet access and education, social network analysis. | email
Dr. Jean Hardy
Assistant Professor
Dr. Hardy’s areas of expertise include: digital divide, rural Internet access, system design. He also does community-based participatory design research with rural LGBTQ people to understand technology use in low-resource settings. |email
Dr. Stephanie Jordan
Assistant Professor
Dr. Jordan’s areas of expertise include: UX design, usability, technology abuse, CSCW, HCI. She is also faculty in the Center for Gender in a Global Context at Michigan State University. | email
Nick Kwiatkowski
Instructor
Instructor Kwiatkowski is a Sr. telecom engineer and his areas of expertise include: programming, usability, networking, and management. | email
Dr. Hee Rin Lee
Assistant Professor
Dr. Hee Rin Lee is a researcher in the field of Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Her areas of expertise include: UX, HCI, robotics, health applications of technology, and participatory design. | email
Dr. Megh Marathe
Assistant Professor
Dr. Marathe’s research seeks to foster inclusion in expert practices and technologies by centering the perspectives of marginalized people. They adopt an ethnographic approach that is inflected by their computer science training and software industry experience. | email
Dr. Casey O’Donnell
Associate Professor
Professor O’Donnell is an active game developer, his areas of expertise include: games, design, UX design, usability, and anthropology. | email
Dr. Jennifer Olson
Associate Professor
Dr. Olson’s areas of expertise include: ICT for development and usability. She has over fifteen years of living and working experience in Africa.| email
Dr. Wei Peng
Professor
Dr. Peng’s areas of expertise include: games, design, UX design, usability, and health applications.| email
Dr. Robby Ratan
Associate Professor
Dr. Ratan is director of the Social and Psychological Approaches to Research on Technology-Interaction Effects (SPARTIE) Lab. His areas of expertise include: games, design, avatars, agents and automobiles. | email
![Jeff Siarto](https://gradstudies.mi.msu.edu/divi/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/jsiarto-512.png")
Jeff Siarto
Interim Director, UX M.S.
Dr. Ryan Thompson
Instructor
Dr. Thompson holds a Ph.D. in musicology. His research focuses on intersections between gameplay and audio. His areas of expertise include: music, sounds, games, and e-sports. | email
Valeta Wensloff
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Senior Academic Specialist
Valeta is interested in user interface and design communication. | email
Brian Winn
Professor
Brian is the director of the Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) Lab. His areas of expertise include: game design and game impacts. | email
Dr. Susan Wyche
Associate Professor
Dr. Wyche’s research focuses on information and communication technologies and development (ICTD). Her areas of expertise include: usability, UX design, ethnography, and qualitative research methods | email
Media + Information Staff
Jessica Leadbetter
Academic Program Coordinator
Jessica’s role as Academic Program Coordinator is to provide administrative support for MA students. These responsibilities include admission processing, keeping MA student files current, graduation requirements, overrides, late adds and independent study forms. She assists the Chair and the Director of Graduate Studies with other administration work including course scheduling. She is always available for questions via email.
Heather Brown
Department Secretary
Heather is the person to contact if you want to: set up an appointment with our department chair, use office resources, room or lab reservations and official procedures. MSU can be an overwhelming place at times, there are the numerous colleges and departments. She has in-depth knowledge about how everything works together so be sure to check with her if you have any questions about correct procedures. | email