Brandon Boatwright (School of Ad/PR)
Social Studio Sessions: Thursdays 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Brandon is a second-year CCI Ph.D. student. Originally from South Carolina, Brandon graduated from Clemson University with a BA in Communication Studies in 2010, and again in 2013 with an MA in Communication, Technology, and Society. He worked at Clemson as a Lecturer and Associate Director of the university’s Social Media Listening Center for four years. Brandon’s primary research focus rests at the intersection of social media and crisis/strategic communication
Cassandra Huang (School of Information Sciences)
Social Studio Sessions: Mondays 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Cassandra is a fourth year CCI Ph.D. student in the School of Information Science. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at National Taiwan University in 2012 and 2015. Her study concentration is visual cyberbullying on social media sites, such as Instagram and Snapchat. And her minor research interests include information behaviors of international students, youth informatics, and usability studies of websites.
Brandy Mmbaga (School of Communication Studies)
Social Studio Sessions: Fridays 9-11 a.m.
Brandy Mmbaga is a fourth-year PhD Candidate from the School of Communication Studies. Her interest in the ABSMCC first developed as she wanted to gather data for her dissertation.
Ying Xiong (School of Ad/PR)
Social Studio Sessions: Tuesdays Noon-2 p.m.
Ying Xiong is a third-year doctoral student in the College of Communication and Information with a concentration in Public Relations. She got her Master’s degree of arts at the University of Oklahoma in the USA and at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in China. She has presented seven pieces of original research at national and international academic conferences and invited to write two book chapters. She is teaching PUBL 340 (Public Relations Research Methods) in 2017 fall semester and assisted PUBL 370 (Public Relations Cases), PUBL 340 (Public Relations Research Methods), and JMC 4813 (Mass Communication Law) during 2015-2017. She assisted in the Media Effect Lab University of Oklahoma conducting Eye tracking system and Galvanic Skin Response sensors research during 2015-2016. She also served as a reviewer for International communication association (ICA) annual meeting in public relations division and public diplomacy division in 2016. Prior to returning to her Ph.D. program, she worked in a public relations agency assisting Toyota’s national public relations campaigns.
James Zhang (School of Journalism & Electronic Media)
Social Studio Sessions: Wednesdays 2-4 p.m.
Xu (James) Zhang is a third-year PhD student in School of Journalism and Electronic Media, College of Communication and Information, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research focuses on international communication, freedom of the press, foreign news reporting, media and terrorism. The Adam Brown Social Media Center allows him to examine how traditional news media agenda would affect the public’s discussion on and understanding of a variety of key social issues (both domestic and foreign) on Twitter and Facebook spheres based on network
agenda setting model (NAS).
Leah Cannon (School of Information Sciences)
Social Studio Sessions: Tuesdays 5:15 to 7:45 p.m.; Thursdays 12:30 to 3 p.m.
Leah Cannon is a first year Master’s student in the School of Information Science. She has a BA in Communications from the University of Tennessee at Martin and a Master’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences with an emphasis in Creative Arts from Vanderbilt University. Most recently, she worked as a Systems Administrator/Data Analyst at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She has volunteered for Nashville Film Festival, Nashville Public Library, and Nashville Rollergirls.