I on the Media: Inside the Cultural Momentum of the 2026 Sports Season

February 19, 2025 These sporting events create shared viewing rituals that bring millions of people together to experience the games in real time. And while audiences continue to reach historic highs, even as media habits fragment, it’s worth examining how these events shape identity, fandom, community, and the way people connect with one another. To […]

‘New York Times’ bestselling authors on presidential campaigns to visit University of Illinois for Q&A

February 17, 2026 This event is free and open to the public and is presented by the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media at the University of Illinois College of Media.  Attendees may join the event in the Illini Union, Room B, 1401 W. Green, Urbana, or register to join via Zoom. The conversation […]

Take Five with Media Alumni: Alex Studer

February 6, 2026 1. What is your current role at Peacock? Currently, I’m the director of web strategy on the growth go-to-market team here at Peacock. I’ve been at the company for six years now and have been one of the key acquisition and experimentation leaders who have helped launch and grow the business. Put […]

Ebert Symposium 2026 focuses on fandom and the media

January 30, 2026 Monday, March 30 Film Screening 7 p.m., Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum Before Wicked, there was The Wiz. Join the Ebert Center for a screening of Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz (1978). See cultural icons such as Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Nipsey Russel follow the yellow brick road in this musical retelling of The Wizard of Oz. While considered […]

Margaret Ng selected as Center for Advanced Study Associate for 2026-27 academic year

January 28, 2026 | Kelly Youngblood As a CAS Associate, Ng will take time off from teaching in Fall 2026 to advance her research on “platform migration,” focusing on how regulatory bans, algorithmic shifts, and geopolitical tensions drive user migration between social media platforms. She argues that these shifts are fueling digital nationalism and reshaping […]

Documentary Club provides students a platform for real-life storytelling

January 22, 2026 | Giuliana Means, Communications Intern The registered student organization began in Spring 2024 to create a supportive space for both amateur and professional documentary filmmakers. They meet weekly in Gregory Hall to discuss and work on current projects, as well as host workshops to enhance their interviewing, filmmaking, and editing skills. “I […]

Centennial Circle: Investing in the next century of media education

Join a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the future of the College of Media at Illinois January 14, 2026 As the College of Media approaches its 100th anniversary, we celebrate our proud legacy and commit to advancing the next era of media education and research. Illinois Media graduates have informed the public, shaped culture, advanced technology, […]

Advertising students create real-life client campaigns through Sandage Project capstone course

January 8, 2026 Students in ADV 498: The Sandage Project developed campaigns for three community organizations in Fall 2025, including Lincoln250, H3 (Harm, Healing, and Hope), and EARS Effingham Animal Rescue Sanctuary. “The students put together impressive campaigns for each, and the clients were very happy,” said senior lecturer of advertising Marisa Peacock. The eight-week […]

Illinois announces first dual-credit initiative, bringing media and other courses to high school students

January 8, 2025 Understanding the role of popular television shows and movies in society—and in students’ own lives—is a central focus of a high-enrollment 100-level course in the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Starting in the 2026-27 academic year, the media and cinema studies course “Introduction to Popular TV and Movies” […]

I on the Media: Melita Garza discusses journalism’s role in Ken Burns’s ‘The American Revolution’

December 15, 2025 Ken Burns’s new PBS series The American Revolution is more than a sweeping historical documentary—it illustrates the ways in which journalism helped ignite and sustain the fight for independence. Melita Garza, associate professor and Tom and June Netzel Sleeman Scholar in Business Journalism, and winner of Journalism History’s 2024 essay contest, shares […]

College of Media
119 Gregory Hall
810 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-2350