E-mail this pageCommunication Faculty - Dr. Shakuntala Rao
Professor
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, postcolonial theory, media ethics, and popular culture. She has published numerous articles and review essays in both Communication and interdisciplinary journals such as Journal of Mass Media Ethics, Interventions: Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Asian Journal of Communication, Journal of Communication, Visual Communication Quarterly, Howard Journal of Communication, Journal of Broadcast and Electronic Media, Journal of Communication Inquiry, and Journal for the Society of Social Research. She is currently Associate Editor of Journal of Global Mass Communication.
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 most recent essays on media and postcolonial theory have apppeared in the journals Global Media and Communication, Journalism: Theory, Practice, & Criticism, and in the anthology Media Ethics Beyond Borders (Heineman/Pearson).
Her current research has two foci. As part of a research group comprised of Herman Wasserman (U of Sheffield), Clifford Christians (U of Illinois-Urbana), and Stephen Ward (U of Wisconsin-Madison), Shakuntala has been working on a project titled, "Towards a Global Media Ethics: Exploring New Theoretical Perspectives." Funded by the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (South Africa), where the group members were in residence in 2007, the project is an effort to develop a philosophically rigorous and culturally informed theory of global media ethics that can serve as a basis for future research and media reform. The group jointly authored a journal-length paper which appeared as a special issue in Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies. Shakuntala is currently working on integrating the concept of critical regionalism to global media studies.
Shakuntala's recent presentation on global media ethics has included panel discussions and presentations at the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics Conference (San Antonio), Russian Communication Association Conference on "Global Communication Studies Today: At the Crossroads of the Disciplines" (Moscow), Punjabi University (Patiala, India), and International Islamic University (Chittagong, Bangladesh).
Shakuntala's second research area is the globalization of the Indian film industry, popularly referred to as Bollywood. Her most recent work on Bollywood is a book chapter titled, "Shah Rukh Khan: A bollywood superstar and an icon of the postcolonial nation" which is to appear in the anthology, Celebrity Colonialism: Fame, Representation, and Power in (Post)Colonial Cultures (Cambridge Scholars Press). She recently presented a series of invited lectures on globalization of Bollywood at La Universidad del Zulia (Maracaibo, Venezuela), Universidad Central de Venezuela (Caracas, Venezuela), and University del Valle (Cali, Colombia).
Shakuntala has been involved in training and in conducting workshops on ethics for print and television journalists in India, Pakistan, the U.S., South Africa, and Kazakhstan. She writes monthly for one of the largest newspapers in India, The Tribune.
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
E-mail: Shakuntala.Rao@plattsburgh.edu