College of Media | Illinois

May 21, 2026 | Kelly Youngblood Feder’s impressive career achievements, along with his continued engagement with the college, have earned him the 2026 College of Media Distinguished Alumni Award. “Stephen Feder has had an illustrative career and has been closely connected to the College of Media, from sharing advice with students at Media Career Night […]

May 21, 2026 | Kelly Youngblood After transitioning from sports to the tech industry, Anglada now helps others shape their narratives as a senior strategic development manager for video at Adobe. “I made the jump to the tech world and that’s been an incredible career opportunity for me,” she said. “Now I get to meet […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Nathan Murphy is a Class of 2026 media and cinema studies major. What first interested you in the media and cinema studies (MACS) major? Ever since I was young, I’ve loved watching movies, but as I got older, I became more interested in how they […]

Get to know some of our College of Media Students! Rafael Aguirre is a Class of 2028 advertising major. What made you choose advertising as your major? A specific moment that really confirmed my interest happened during my senior year of high school when I visited Revolution, a sports marketing agency. They work on advertisements […]

May 15, 2026 1. What first drew you to filmmaking and production, and how did that evolve into your current role today? Ever since I was a kid, I told people, “I want to make movies,” before I even knew what that meant or how that would even be possible. All I knew is that […]

May 14, 2026 The team received both “Best Reporting on Race and Diversity” and “Best Reporting on Crime and Justice” in the student category for their submission titled “At Illinois public universities, campus cops pull over Black drivers at higher rates.” The student team included Maia McDonald, Nicole Jeanine Johnson, Khadija Ahmed, Isabelle Senechal, Amilia [&#823…

May 8, 2026 Poulter, a two-time Olympian, along with seven other elite Illini athletes, will be honored at the Hall of Fame Gala and Induction Ceremony on Friday, Sept. 11, at State Farm Center.  Poulter helped lead the United States to Olympic Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games and Silver at the 2024 Paris Games, while […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Rikkie Gunawan is a class of 2027 journalism major. What excites you most about being a journalism major at the University of Illinois? The most exciting part is how many opportunities there are as a journalism major. Students can get involved in The Daily Illini, […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Rawan El-Bawab is a Class of 2026 CS + advertising major. What led you to your decision to major in CS + advertising? In high school, I really enjoyed math and statistics, but I was also very interested in psychology. When I was applying to […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Karys Boeriu is a Class of 2028 advertising major. What made you choose the College of Media at Illinois? Initially, I was drawn here because of the tight-knit community in the College of Media, but we’re part of such a huge university. There are so […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Nick Roacho is a Class of 2027 media and cinema studies major. Why did you choose to major in media and cinema studies (MACS)? How did you decide that the College of Media was the right fit for you? In the College of Media, I […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Francisco Albarran is a Class of 2026 media and cinema studies major. Why did you choose to major in media and cinema studies (MACS), and how did you decide that it was the right fit for you? During the lockdown in 2020, I really got […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Ella Yoder is a Class of 2027 media and cinema studies major. What made you choose the media and cinema studies (MACS) major? During my search for universities, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign stuck out quickly, specifically, the media and cinema studies (MACS) major. MACS […]

April 29, 2026 | Giuliana Means, Communications Intern “I know from my experience that traveling and working abroad, especially in Africa, can be an inflection point in one’s life and globally contextualize values,” said Charles “Stretch” Ledford, associate professor of journalism, who has visited more than 55 countries throughout his career. “It was incredibly gratifying […]

Get to know some of our College of Media students! Ryan Hanson is a Class of 2026 advertising major. Why did you decide to major in advertising? I was already interested in advertising due to a research paper I did during my senior year of high school, where I had the opportunity to interview OKRP […]

Get to know some of our College of Media Students! Nina Issel is a Class of 2027 journalism major. What made you choose journalism at the College of Media?  I realized I enjoyed opportunities to dive deeply into specific topics whether it was researching global conflicts or exploring complex issues in detail and presenting the information. That […]

Email: kmlcook@illinois.edu Research Interests Kirby’s primary research interests are advertising, consumer culture, and identity. Throughout her doctoral program, her research has focused on material possessions, accessibility in advertising, and political advertising literacy. Prior to joining ICR, Kirby worked at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a marketing and communications spe…