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Dhavan V. Shah is Louis A. & Mary E. Maier-Bascom Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication and Political Science. He received his doctorate in mass communication in 1999 from the University of Minnesota, where he also minored in political psychology. He earned tenure at the University of Wisconsin in 2002, was promoted to full professor in 2004, and was awarded an endowed professorship in 2006.

Shah teaches strategic and political communication. His courses include J345, Strategic Communication; J447, Strategic Media Planning; J614, Communication and Public Opinion; J658, Communication Research Methods; J829, Political Communication; J849, Mass Media and the Individual; J880, Internet and Democracy; and J880, Practicum in Communication Research.

His research concerns the social psychology of political communication, with particular attention to the role of mass media in political evaluations and civic participation. Shah has developed programs of research on (a) the capacity of mass and interpersonal communication, particularly the Internet, to encourage participation, (b) the influence of news framing, cueing, and priming on cognitive complexity, social judgment, and public opinion, and (c) the correspondence between media use and the intersection of consumer and civic culture, particularly the politics of consumption.

Articles presenting this work appear in leading communication and political science journals: The ANNALS, Communication Research, Human Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Communication, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Politics, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Political Behavior, Political Communication, Political Psychology, Political Research Quarterly, and Public Opinion Quarterly. He has authored over 60 articles and chapters, and is working on three book manuscripts extending these programs of inquiry.

He has been principal investigator on grants totaling nearly $600,000 from sources such as the Benton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Public Broadcasting Service, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Carnegie Corporation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Russell Sage Foundation, Journal Foundation, and C.I.R.C.L.E. Shah has used some of this support to conduct two multi-wave national panel studies of the 2000 and 2004 presidential election examining the effects of traditional and digital media on civic and political participation. These longitudinal projects integrate information on political ad content and placement into the survey data, allowing unique insights on campaign communication effects. More recently, he used grant support to spearhead the organizing of an international conference on the intersection of consumer and civic culture that became a volume of The ANNALS.

Shah has served on the editorial boards of nine different journals, including Communication Research, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Political Communication. He has held leadership positions in three professional associations, AEJMC, ICA, and APSA, and twice served as a faculty organizer of the NCA’s National Doctoral Honors Seminar in Mass Communication. He is the recipient of the Nafziger-White Award for the field's outstanding dissertation, the Krieghbaum Under-40 Award for early career contributions, and the Article of the Year Award in the field of Political Communication, along with UW honors such as the Journal Communication/Warren J. Heyse Faculty Excellence Award, the Vilas Associates Award, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence.

Shah’s professional media experience includes time as a media buyer/planner for Leo Burnett Co. in Chicago, IL and work as a consultant to major marketing communication agencies, such as Fallon, BBDO, and Carmichael Lynch, and public sector entities, including the PBS, CPB, National Center for Outreach, and Wisconsin Focus on Energy Program. He also has conducted projects for media organizations and nonprofits such as the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and the Combat Blindness Foundation. Within the department, Shah works with fellow faculty and graduate students in three different research collaboratives: (1) the Mass Communications Research Center’s annual media and politics project, (2) the Consumer Culture and Civic Participation working group, and most recently, (3) the Blog Club, a unit devoted to exploring the intersection of the Internet, journalism, and democracy.

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© 2004. Dhavan Shah & Homero Gil de Zuniga