Graduate Students

Tessa Adams
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Tessa Adams is a Ph.D. student interested in race and representation in film and television. Adams is a critical-cultural scholar particularly interested in the intersections of racism, sexism, and classism in “woke” horror productions.
Munachim Amah
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Teaching Assistant
Easton Graduate Teaching Fellow
Munachim Amah is a Ph.D. candidate and teaching assistant in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He is broadly interested in journalism studies and economic development, with a more specific interest in language use in journalism, journalism practice, and representation of poverty in news media.

Mir Ashfaquzzaman
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Teaching Assistant
Mir is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa, whose research interest is in journalism studies, especially journalism ethics.

Katy Biddle
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Katy Biddle is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa. Katy's research interests lie at the intersection of television and social media.

Lei Chen
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Teaching Assistant
Lei Chen is a Ph.D. student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. His research interests fall in digital media, narrative journalism, and online deliberation.

Michael Davis
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Teaching Assistant
Michael Davis is a Ph.D. candidate at SJMC. He has taught Reporting and Writing and Multimedia Storytelling for the department.
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Teaching Assistant
Abubakar is a graduate student at the University of Iowa with interest in the future of newsrooms in a post-pandemic world.

Patrick Johnson
Title/Position
Graduate Student
JCI Editor
Patrick is Ph.D. student and graduate instructor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He comes from nearly a decade of teaching high school journalism and English, and a decade of being an adjunct professor in journalism and media studies at Marquette University (where he received both my bachelor's and master's degrees).
Ugochukwu Madu
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Teaching Assistant
Ugochukwu Madu is a doctoral student in The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at The University of Iowa, with a concentration on Health Communication. He is seeking scientific ways of combating Health Misinformation using a multi-methodological approach. He is open to scholarly collaborations.

Frankline Matanji
Title/Position
Doctoral Candidate
Teaching Assistant
Frankline Matanji is a Ph.D. student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a specialization in international/development studies. Frankline’s research interest ranges from the empowering role of participatory communication for directed social change, international communication, media influences on people’s attitude and engagement and, digital media use especially in the Global South.
Javie Ssozi
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Research Assistant

Rebekah Tilley
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Rebekah is Ph.D. student in mass communication focusing her research on strategic messaging and issues management. She is particularly interested in the dynamics at play in the institutional response to crises common to higher education.


Jenny Xu
Title/Position
Graduate Student
Teaching Assistant
Zhiying (Jenny) Xu is currently a Ph.D. student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Her research interests lie in the media effect/influences of social media usages.
