Home

Biography

Curriculum Vitae

Research

Teaching

Resources

Contact

Download bio: Long form: | .pdf | .doc | .rtf| / Short form: | .pdf | .doc | .rtf|

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; J565, Effects of Mass Communication, 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 mainly concerns the social psychology of communication influence, especially effects on personal evaluations, political judgments, health outcomes, and civic engagement. Shah has developed programs of research on (a) the capacity of mass and interpersonal communication, particularly the Internet, to encourage community building and participation in civic and health contexts, (b) the influence of news framing and priming on cognitive complexity, attitude formation, and public opinion, and (c) the relationship of media use with 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, Communication Theory, Cyberpsychology & Behavior, Human Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of 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 70 articles and chapters, and is working on three book manuscripts extending these inquiries.

He has been principal investigator or project leader on grants and awards totaling over $1.500,000 — part of over $11.1 million in grant funding he has been involved in securing — from sources such as the Benton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Public Broadcasting Service, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Carnegie Corporation, Russell Sage Foundation, Journal Foundation, C.I.R.C.L.E., the Department of Defense, and the National Cancer Institute. Shah has used some of this support to conduct three multi-wave national panel studies of the 2000, 2004, and 2008 presidential elections examining the effects of traditional and digital media on civic and political participation. Since 2008, he has led the Theory and Method Core and the Training Core of the NCI-Funded Center for Excellence in Cancer Communication Research.

Shah has served on the editorial boards of ten journals, including Communication Research, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Mass Communication and Society, and Political Communication. He has also 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 numerous honors, including the Nafziger-White Award for the field's outstanding dissertation, the Krieghbaum Under-40 Award for early career contributions, and Article of the Year Awards in the field of Political Communication (ICA-2006) and Information Technology and Politics (APSA-2008). Within the UW, he has been recognized with the Journal Communication/Warren J. Heyse Faculty Excellence Award, Vilas Associates Award, Chancellor’s Award for Excellence, and selection as a Hamel Faculty Fellow.

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 Media Engagement, 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 (3) the Social Media and Democracy research group.

|Top|



© 2004. Dhavan Shah & Homero Gil de Zuniga