Graduate Students


Current 

Syracuse University Dissertation Committees
  • Murat Albus, Texas A&M, Ph.D. committee Chair, Department of Political Science
  • Sarah Elizabeth Jones, Ph.D. committee member,  Department of Political Science

Texas A&M Dissertation Committees
  • Maxwell Allamong, Texas A&M, Ph.D. committee member, Department of Political Science (Degree Awarded 2022)
  • Spencer Goidel, Texas A&M, Ph.D. committee member, Department of Political Science (Degree Expected May 2023)
  • Manuela Munoz, Texas A&M, Ph.D. committee member, Department of Political Science (Degree Expected May 2024)
  • Kexin Bai, Texas A&M, Ph.D.  committee member, Department of Political Science
  • Lu Sun, Texas A&M, Ph.D.  committee member, Department of Political Science
  • Nour Zeid, Texas A&M, Ph.D.  outside committee member, Department of Communication
  • Majid Alfifi, Texas A&M, Ph.D. outside committee member, Department of Computer Science
  • Jieun Song, Texas A&M, Ph.D. outside committee member, Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences
  • Jean Parella, Texas A&M outside committee member, Department of Agriculture, Leadership, Education and Communications

Texas A&M MA & Thesis Committees
  • Emily Damm, Texas A&M, Department of Political Science (Degree Awarded 2018)
  • Ben Beutel, Texas A&M, Department of Political Science (Degree Awarded 2019)
  • Jennifer Wargin, Texas A&M, Department of Philosophy (Degree Awarded 2019)
  • Jean Parella, Texas A&M, Department of Agriculture, Leadership, Education and Communications

Chaired (or co-chaired) Dissertations

Jeremy Padgett, Ph.D., LSU Manship School  (Awarded 8/14)

Current Position: Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Mobile

Dissertation: Predictors of National Broadcast and Cable Television News Coverage of the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

Abstract This dissertation examines how institutional, individual, and situational variables work to influence the volume of national broadcast and cable television news coverage members of the 109th, 110th, 111th, and 112th U.S. Houses of Representatives received. Analysis combines public data on House structure, member characteristics, member effort, and member circumstances with original computer-aided content analysis of the 38,430 transcripts in which members spoke and the 243,205 statements members made on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC between January 3, 2005 and January 3, 2013, the full terms of these four congresses. The results presented in this dissertation yield important information about which House members are most and least successful in garnering news coverage and how the effects of specific institutional, individual, and situational variables vary across different news organizations and across news organizations type. Implications for citizens, Congress, and democracy are discussed.

Newly Paul, Ph.D., LSU Manship School (Awarded 8/15) 

Current Position: Assistant Professor of Media and Politics, University of North Texas

Dissertation: Gender Stereotypes and the Strategic Use of Emotions in the 2008 Elections
         
Abstract Scholars examining gender bias in elections have found that voters’ stereotypical expectations of women and men        candidates affect their vote choice. This dissertation examines gender stereotypes from the perspective of campaigns. Specifically, I examine how ad, candidate and election variables interact with gender stereotypes to determine the use of emotions in political ads. My analysis contains ad data for the 2008 Senate, House and gubernatorial races gathered from the Wisconsin Advertising Project, combined with original content analysis of 1,170,728 ad airings (3,424 unique ads). The results indicate that campaigns’ use of fear, anger, enthusiasm and hope appeals depends to a great extent on gender stereotypes, and that this relationship is conditional on other factors such as the gender of the opponent, the level of the office, and the competitiveness of the election.

​Mingxiao Sui, Ph.D., LSU Manship School (Awarded 8/15)

Current Position: Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Dissertation: Ethnic Audiences In a Fragmented Media Era: Ethnic Audiences' Selective Exposure to Likeminded Media

Abstract The conventional wisdom that U.S. and ethnic media have distinctive effects on ethnic populations’ assimilation into the American society inspires two closely related questions: (1) how do English- and ethnic-language media differ in news content?, and (2) to what extent is ethnic audiences’ preference for English- versus ethnic-language media systematically biased such that they seek to use media congenial to their most salient ethnic identity? The first question is expected to provide insights into what ethnic audiences learn about the U.S. and their country of origin from distinct news outlets, and to explain whether and how U.S. and ethnic media may have different influences on ethnic audiences’ attitudes toward both nations. The second question furthers our understanding of why ethnic audiences’ selective exposure is a general, cross-channel pattern with consistent ethnical or political antecedents. To examine the above questions, this project takes a multi-method approach, including one content analysis, two analyses of secondary survey data, one pilot experiment, and one Latino based experimental study. It reveals several important findings. First, the way U.S. media portray the images of the U.S. and China is not radically different from Chinese media, as both tend to cover more negative U.S. images. This indicates their different functions, with the U.S. media playing the role of watchdog and Chinese media serving as the government’s propaganda tool. Second and more importantly, this project reveals evidence that ethnic audiences prefer to use media that are congruent with their most salient cultural identity, especially when they seek for information related to politics and public affairs. This so-called “ethnic selective exposure” exists among both Latino and Asian groups, and across different media platforms.

Chaired Master Theses LSU
  • Alvarez, German, LSU Manship School, M.A. Thesis (Co-Chair, M.A. 12/10) 
  • Briscoe, Andrea, LSU Manship School, M.A. Thesis (Chair) (Degree Awarded May 2015)
  • Abad, Andrew, LSU Manship School, M.A. Thesis (Chair) (Awarded 8/15)

Dissertation Committees LSU
  • Davis, Nick, LSU Department of Political Science, Ph.D. Dissertation  
  • Kirzinger, Ashley, LSU Manship School, Ph.D. Dissertation (Ph.D. Awarded 5/12)
  • LaPoe, Victoria, LSU Manship School, Ph.D. Dissertation  (Ph.D.  Awarded 8/13)
  • McCluskey, Lindsay, LSU Manship School, Ph.D. Dissertation (PhD Awarded 8/15)
  • Pfetzer, Emily, LSU Manship School, Ph.D. Dissertation (Ph.D. Awarded 2013)
  • Thornton, Matthew, LSU Manship School, Ph.D. Dissertation (Ph.D.  Awarded 8/12)
  • Turcotte, Jason, LSU Manship School, Ph.D. Dissertation (Ph.D. Awarded 5/14)
  • Vizcarrondo, Tom, LSU Manship School, Ph.D. Dissertation (Chair, Ph.D.  Awarded 8/13)
  • Wilkinson, Betina, LSU Department of Political Science, Dissertation (Ph.D. Awarded 5/10)

Thesis Committees LSU
  • Christensen, Britt, LSU Manship School, M.A. Thesis (M.A. 05/11), Ph.D. Dissertation (2015)
  • Leist, Lauren, LSU Manship School, M.A. Thesis
  • Mernard, Meghan, LSU Manship School, M.A. Thesis
  • Schmidt, Elle, LSU Manship School, M.A. Thesis (Degree Awarded May 2015)
  • Watson, Brian, LSU Department of Political Science, M.A. Thesis (Degree Awarded May 2015)
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