| about

Cheryl Shea

6051 Vilas Hall
University of Wisconsin–Madison

This is Cheryl. I am currently a PhD Candidate in Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I care about civic engagement, resistance, and resilience through the lens of media and information structure. In the world, we all have to rely on others to get knowledge; that knowledge constructs our ways of seeing, our belonging, our beliefs, and hence our care and behaviors. Specifically, I look into how our way of seeking understanding and beliefs, together with our way of hunting information via different media and communication channels, supports civic society — whether it is thriving or challenged by diminishing political opportunities.

Hence, you can see me researching the role of bookstores when political opportunities diminish, online platforms and physical sites that foster civic engagement, or digital platforms enabling democratic outreach. In the end, we all rely on communication and knowledge to slowly build our society, and I’m interested in seeing what societies we can build collectively, for the good of others.

My work has been presented at international conferences, including ICA and AEJMC, and has won the Top Paper Award from the International Communication Association. You can also see my research published in peer-reviewed journals such as Digital Journalism, Information, Communication & Society, British Food Journal and Chinese Journal of Communication etc.

Learn more about my research and teaching, and feel free to send email me or connect with me on LinkedIn! :)

news

Aug 05, 2026	We wrote a public-facing article for Project for Public Spaces discussing how farmers markets can better realize their potential to build community and now it’s published!
Jul 29, 2026	Our published paper on farmers markets and civic engagement has been picked up by a number of Wisconsin media. Please check them out here!
Jul 07, 2026	After more than three years, Alex and I are pleased to share that our paper Hybridized Practice of Pro-Regime Media in Hong Kong has been published in Digital Journalism. In hybrid regimes, pro-regime media have to demonstrate support for the authorities, while limited internet control and social expectations can make overtly propagandistic narratives counterproductive. Our study illustrates these tensions and the strategic ways such outlets navigate them. The open access article is available on the site - please check it out!
May 04, 2026	My first-authored collaborative paper with Professor Bret Shaw’s team is now out in Information, Communication & Society! We look at how people get community information across social media and news platforms as well as how that connects to civic participation and feeling like they belong. One interesting finding is that attention paid to Facebook and TikTok for community information work in different ways: one relates positively to participation while another one is associated to higher connection they feel to their neigborhood. We also bring physical places into the picture and uncover the potential of farmers markets in amplifying media effects on civic engagement. If you are interested in strengthening local communities or in how social-media platforms shape civic life, please have a read :)