Media and Information at Michigan State University

10/14/2026

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 4pm, the Quello Center, Michigan State University will host a special talk by Aaron Schultz, Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University. Dr. Schultz will discuss "The Myth of Algorithmic Justice: Why Rawlsian Frameworks Can’t Fix Our Algorithms".

Algorithms play an important role across a wide range of social domains. They are deployed by the criminal justice system, the health care system, educational institutions, and employers. They also significantly shape the information we consume, from news and social media to entertainment. Given the scope of their influence, it is crucial that the algorithms impacting our lives operate fairly. While efforts to ensure algorithmic fairness are widespread, we must also recognize the theoretical limits of these approaches. This talk examines those boundaries by exploring the challenges of applying John Rawls’s conception of fairness to modern algorithms.

10/05/2026

Dr. Amanda Cote presented at the Esports Research Network Conference in Japan. Her presentation was titled, “From Esport to Educated?: Describing Esports Participants’ Academic Areas of Focus and Directions for Professional Development”.

Authors: Amanda Cote, Shane Burrell, Maxwell Foxman, Brandon Harris, and Jeffrey Fricke-Waters (Michigan State University, Chestnut Health Systems, University of Oregon, University of Alabama, USA)

10/01/2026

Dr. Ruth Shillair presented at TPRC54, the Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy at American University, Washington, DC.

Her presentation was titled, "Avoiding AI Fear Responses: Turning FOMO and FOBO into Democratically Driven Dynamic Use." Both FOMO (fear of missing out) and FOBO (fear of becoming obsolete) lead to poor decisions. She looked at 1,250 interviews with people using AI to find out their attitudes towards its use. People using AI don't often know how to best approach it, but some are making some very innovative and effective use choices.

09/15/2026

The interdepartmental Information and Media Ph.D. Program prepares students to become scholars, teachers and leaders. Three highly ranked academic units of MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences participate in the academic training: the Department of Advertising + Public Relations, the Schoo...

09/11/2026

Congratulations to undergraduate students Chris Currier and Faith Fischer, who were selected as Game Audio Network Guild Scholars and will attend GameSoundCon 2026 this October. These are yearly, internationally competitive awards for which the Guild chooses five people from across the country. Scholars will also be paired with an industry mentor.

In addition, Professor of Practice and resident Musicologist Dr. Ryan Thompson will be speaking at GameSoundCon.

For more information about the Scholars program, see:

NEXT EVENT: Gamesoundcon 2026 Applications Close August 16, 2026 What is the G.A.N.G. Scholars Program? First started in 2014, The G.A.N.G. Scholars Program provides select highly motivated, full-time music and sound design or audio programming students who have a passion for interactive audio ...

09/04/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Anna Argyris, who was selected for the next cohort of the Henry Ford + MSU Health Innovation Leadership Academy (HILA), a nine-month program focused on leadership, teamwork and collaboration across MSU and Henry Ford Health.

08/20/2026

Our own Jean Hardy was interviewed by WLNS News, where he discusses the legal limitations and concerns faced by those with incoming data centers.

Data centers have become a hot topic of public discussion, but experts say that while some concerns surrounding data centers are valid, others may be exaggerated.

08/05/2026

We're looking for a two-year postdoctoral research associate to work on an NSF-funded project titled, "Understanding and Supporting Rural Community Adaptation to Workplace Automation." The postdoc will be the primary researcher for the ethnographic fieldwork component of a multi-year study examining how rural Michigan communities adapted to decades of workplace automation in manufacturing and agriculture. Working across case sites, the postdoc will conduct sustained observational fieldwork and interviews with current and former workers, business owners and managers, families, and community leaders, documenting how the impact of automation in the workplace unfolds and how communities respond. The postdoc will be embedded in each community for extended periods, working alongside Jean Hardy and co-PI Tara Behrend, plus a team of graduate student researchers to capture both workplace-level dynamics and broader community-level adaptation.

See more details and apply for the position here:

07/22/2026

Gabriel Hales' article, “Screen time guidelines for kids and adolescents have shifted as research paints a more nuanced picture” has been published in The Conversation.

Dr. Hales is a Research Fellow with the Quello Center, Michigan State University, recent Media and Information Ph.D. alumnus, and upcoming Postdoc at University of Zurich in the fall of 2026.

Read on:

Studies increasingly show that how kids are using screens is more important than the exact amount of time they’re spending on them – and parents and caregivers tend to know what’s best for their families.

07/20/2026

Congratulations to Jean Hardy, who, along with Tara Behrend, the John Richard Butler II Endowed Professor in the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, received a $914,904 grant from the National Science Foundation to lead the four-year project, Understanding and Supporting Rural Community Adaptation to Workplace Automation.

Read more:

As artificial intelligence and robotics continue to reshape industries across the country, Michigan State University researcher Jean Hardy is leading a new effort to better understand how rural communities experience and respond to technological change.