MPI Participants - Albert Gunther Biography

Albert Gunther, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Life Sciences Communication

Biography

As a professor in the Life Sciences Communication Department, I teach undergraduate courses in journalism and graduate seminars in communication theory and research. My research program focuses on mass media and public opinion and I have extensive international experience, particularly in Southeast Asia.

My current research has two major components:

The hostile media effect, which deals with interpretation and evaluation of mass media content and especially perceptual biases in the media audience. I have studied this idea in the context of science-related controversies such as the use of primates in lab research and a broad range of disputes over biotechnology developments, especially genetically modified foods.
The presumed influence hypothesis, which examines the tendency to assume mass media influences others, and various consequences of that assumption. This research has recently focused on public health issues, particularly adolescent smoking. My research is supported by the NIH, the USDA, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other agencies. I am also a member of the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention.

I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the early 1970s, and also conduct research and occasionally teach in other countries. I am a member of the UW Center for Southeast Asian Studies and campus coordinator for the Masters International Program which enables students to combine Peace Corps service with a graduate degree program. I am also director of the LSC graduate program.

Home | Site Search | UW-Madison Home

Themes
Deterritorialization of Culture | Cultural Translation
Meaning Production | Local Uses of Global Media
Discourses of Control | Contexts of Expression
Modes of Expression

The MPI Research Circle is sponsored by
The UW-Madison International Institute