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Rekha Sharma (Ph.D., 91²Ö¿â) is an associate professor in the School of Communication Studies in the College of Communication and Information at 91²Ö¿â. Her primary research area is mass communication, with a secondary specialization in political communication. Building upon an educational background in journalism and information use, she has explored a range of media topics, including news, film, cartoons, infotainment, political social media use, viral marketing, fandom, and government-conspiracy-theory-oriented media.

Her academic research has been published in journals such as the Ohio Communication Journal; Mass Communication & Society; Electronic News; Global Media Journal—Canadian Edition; Media, War, & Conflict; and the Journal of Fandom Studies. Additionally, she has contributed to the published anthologies War and the Media: Essays on News Reporting, Propaganda and Popular Culture (McFarland); We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life … and Always Has (Praeger); Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture (Scarecrow Press); Debates for the Digital Age: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Our Online World (Praeger); and Remapping South Asian Cinema and Theatre: An Anthology of 21st Century Criticism (Rawat, in press).

Sharma also teaches several undergraduate courses, including Communication Grammar Review, Communication & Influence, Freedom of Speech, Foundations of Communication, High Impact Professional Speaking, Public Communication in Society, Business and Professional Communication, Interviewing, Media Use & Effects, and Introduction to Human Communication.

SCHOLARLY, CREATIVE & PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Academic Publications

• Clark, D., & Sharma, R. (2021). Teaching tools in a flash – Fostering cultural humility in the classroom. 91²Ö¿â Center for Teaching and Learning. https:/e
• Sharma, R., & Workneh, T. (2020). The spice of life: Discussing diversity and disparity in Mississippi Masala. In J. D. Hamlet (Ed.), Films as rhetorical texts: Cultivating discussion about race, racism, and race relations (pp. 29-46). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
• Sharma, R., & Bhaduri, G. (2019). How homespun cotton cloth became the fabric of Indian political life. In H. Mandell (Ed.), Crafting dissent: Handicraft as protest from the American revolution to the pussyhats (pp. 123-137). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Hoak, G., & Sharma, R. (2019). An epitaph in 140 characters: TV journalists’ Twitter use following the Roanoke shootings. Ohio Communication Journal, 57, 58-74.
• Sharma, R. (2017). Desi films: Articulating images of South Asian identity in a global communication environment. In A. K. Chaubey & A. I. Devasundaram (Eds.), South Asian diasporic cinema and theatre: Re-visiting screen and stage in the new millennium (pp. 48-70). Jaipur, India: Rawat.
• Sharma, R. (2017). Media effects. In J. D. Ponder (Ed.), COMM 20000: Foundations of communication. (pp. 179-195). Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press.
• Ponder, J. D., & Sharma, R. (2016). You say you want a revolution? The Internet’s impact on political discussion, activism, and societal transformation. In D. S. Coombs & S. Collister (Eds.), Debates for the digital age: The good, the bad, and the ugly of our online world: Vol. 1: The good (pp. 183-201). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
• Savery, C. A., & Sharma, R. (2016). For love or money: Exploring personal matrimony ads, sugar websites, and catfishing through social exchange theory. In D. S. Coombs & S. Collister (Eds.), Debates for the digital age: The good, the bad, and the ugly of our online world: Vol. 2: The bad and the ugly (pp. 227-248). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
• Sharma, R. (2016). Leaks, whistle-blowers, and radical transparency: Government accountability in the Internet age. In D. S. Coombs & S. Collister (Eds.), Debates for the digital age: The good, the bad, and the ugly of our online world: Vol. 1: The good (pp. 119-140). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
• Sharma, R. (2014). Account overdrawn: Articulating consumerism in animated media. Ohio Communication Journal, 52, 1-19.
• Sharma, R., & Savery, C. (2014). Bollywood marriages: Portrayals of matrimony in Hindi popular cinema. In N. Jones & M. Bajac-Carter (Eds.), Heroines of film and television: Portrayals in popular culture (pp. 147-162). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Sharma, R. (2014). Infecting the Internet: The influence of online viral marketing techniques on public opinion. In D. S. Coombs & B. Batchelor (Eds.), We are what we sell: How advertising shapes American life … and always has: Vol. 3 (pp. 184-203). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.