Communication Studies Program Faculty - Dr. Shakuntala Rao

Communication Studies Faculty — Dr. Shakuntala Rao

Professor & Communication Studies Chairperson

Shakuntala Rao joined the Department in 1992 after completing her Ph.D. at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Shakuntala's research and teaching interests are the areas of global media, journalism ethics, postcolonial theory, and popular culture. She has published extensively and influentially in both Communication and interdisciplinary journals such as Interventions: Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Women's Studies International Forum, Journal of Communication, Global Media Journal, Communication Review, Journalism: Theory, Practice, Method, Howard Journal of Communication, Journal of Broadcast and Electronic Media, American Journalism Review, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Asian Journal of Communication, and Journal for the Society of Social Research.

Shakuntala's past research has focused on the intersections between media studies and postcolonial theory. Her frequently cited article, "Where is the study of empire? Connecting International Communication to Postcolonial Theory," published in the Journal of International Communication, dealt with issues of hybridity, identity, and colonial history. Her articles & book chapters on media and postcolonial theory have appeared in the journals Global Media and Communication, Visual Communication Quarterly, and in the anthologies, Media Ethics Beyond Borders (Rutledge), Women of Color: Taking their Rightful Place in Leadership (Birkdale), and Re-Imagining Gandhi: Media, Culture, & Governance (Sage).

Her current research has two foci. As part of a research group comprised of Herman Wasserman (Rhodes University, South Africa), Clifford Christians (U of Illinois-Urbana), and Stephen J.A. Ward (U of Wisconsin-Madison), Shakuntala has been working on a project titled, "Towards Global Media Ethics: Exploring New Theoretical Perspectives." The group jointly authored a monograph-length paper which appeared as a special issue in Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies. The group has also organized and hosted Roundtables for scholars and journalists at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) Zayed University (Dubai, United Arab Emerates), and Indian Institute of Mass Communication (Delhi, India).  Her recent work in global media ethics have appeared in the journals Journalism Studies and Journal for Mass Media Ethics, and presented at the International Communication Association conference (Singapore), Russian Communication Association conference (Moscow), International Association for Mass Communication Research conference (Instanbul), Latin American Journalism Conference (Santiago), and MIT7: Media in Transition conference (Cambridge, Mass.). Her most recent articles on global media ethics have appeared in the journals Journalism Practice & Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, & book chapters in the anthologies, The Handbook of Global Communication and Media Ethics (Wiley-Blackwell). Shakuntala is also the co-editor (with Muhammad Ayish, Sharjah University, UAE) of an anthology titled, Explorations in Global Media Ethics (Rutledge, 2012) and is completing a second anthology titled, Ethics Matters: Justice and Ethics in the Age of Globalization (co-edited with Herman Wasserman & Uday Sahay).

Shakuntala's second area of research is the globalization of the Indian film industry, popularly referred to as Bollywood. Her most recent scholarly work on Bollywood is a book chapter titled, "Shah Rukh Khan: A Bollywood Superstar and an Icon of the Postcolonial Nation" which appeared in the anthology, Celebrity Colonialism: Fame, Representation, and Power in (Post)Colonial Cultures (Cambridge Scholars Press) and an article titled, "Glocalization of Bollywood" published in the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. Her recent talks on Bollywood were at the Department of Cinema Studies, Universidad Central de Venezuela (Caracas, Venezuela), Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication (New Delhi, India), and at the College of Culture and Communication, Zhejiang Wanli University (Ningbo, China). She has written articles and columns on Bollywood for magazines, websites, and newspapers such as South Asia (Lahore, Pakistan), Alternatives Internationales (Paris, France), The Hoot: Watching Media in the Subcontinent (Delhi, India), and The Tribune (Chandigarh, India).

Shakuntala has received several grants and awards including the Ford Foundation Faculty Award, Senior Fulbright Scholarship, Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study (South Africa), Fellow at the Ethics Colloquia at the University of Missouri, Nuala Drescher Award, and the Presidential Research Grant at SUNY. She has been involved in training & in conducting workshops on ethics for print & television journalists in India, Pakistan, South Africa, & Kazakhstan.

Shakuntala lives in Burlington, Vermont, and enjoys playing tennis with her son.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1993).
• M.A., Pennsylvania State University.
• B.A., University of Delhi.

Teaching & Research Areas

• International communication.
• Media ethics.
• Popular culture.
• Postcolonial and feminist theory.

Contact Shakuntala Rao

Office: Yokum 108
Phone: (518) 564-4291
Email: Shakuntala.Rao@plattsburgh.edu