Post-Graduate Fellows
Austin Beattie POST-GRADUATE FELLOW Dr. Austin J. Beattie (Ph.D., The University of Iowa) is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Hope College. His interests lie at the intersections of social support, computer-mediated, and human-machine communication. His research examines how people interact through (and with) technology. His most recent line of work is centered on how characteristics of message type and source influence the ways in which social support is engaged, facilitated, and evaluated via supportive human-machine communication – the human use of machine agents (e.g., chatbots) to buffer stress. |
Matthew Craig POST-GRADUATE FELLOW Matthew Craig is a Ph.D. student at Kent State University's College of Communication & Information. Matthew’s research focuses on Human-Machine Communication (HMC) and privacy management and disclosure. Specifically, he seeks to understand how humans communicate identity and negotiate privacy when interacting with and through communicative AI and computer-mediated communication contexts. See more about Matthew and his research here: www.matthewjacraig.com |
Xianlin Jin POST-GRADUATE FELLOW Xianlin Jin, Ph.D. (2021-University of Kentucky) is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication, the University of Toledo. Xianlin integrates quantitative, big data, and qualitative methods to study risk information seeking, health communication, and human-machine communication. Xianlin is also a member of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Young Scientists and Communication & Social Robotics Labs. |
Riley Richards Post-Graduate Fellow Riley Richards (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the Oregon Institute of Technology. He studies relational communication and behavior from a functionalist perspective, particularly in the context of relational goals, sexual communication, communication technology, taboo topics, and quasi-sexual relationships (e.g., human-robot). His most recent publications have appeared in Computers in Human Behavior and Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. More information about Riley and his research can be found at: rileyrichards.org |
Varun Rijhwani POST-GRADUATE FELLOW Varun Rijhwani is an exchange student at Western Michigan University from India. His Ph.D. is focused on understanding the nature of change and its impact when machines (the digital voice assistants) in the communication process replace humans. He is interested in exploring how the social self is shaped keeping in mind such interactions in the context of digital voice assistant devices, such as Alexa, Siri, Google Home, etc. Also, he wants to understand what kind of different relationships people build with anthropomorphized devices and how these relationships affect actual and intended future usage? Given that no communication is perfect, what are the barriers to the new type of communication that has evolved with the changing role of technology is something Varun is further interested in exploring. |
Adam Rainear Post-Graduate Fellow Adam M. Rainear (Ph.D.) is a Visiting Assistant Professor at West Chester University. Adam’s research interests are focused primarily in the fields of risk and science communication, with a specific focus on communicating the weather and climate to the public. His current research projects examine using new technology, such as robots and virtual reality, to effectively communicate risky and science-related messages, in addition to other projects which examine social media as a risk communication tool. His most recent publications have appeared in Computers in Human Behavior, Communication Research Reports, and Weather, Climate, & Society. |