Diana Zulli

Get to Know Assistant Professor Diana Zulli

My primary research interests are political communication, communication theory, digital technology, and crisis communication and my primary teaching interests are political communication, public relations, and crisis communication.

I typically work with graduate students who are interested in political communication, public relations, and social media. When it comes to my approach to graduate advising, I believe in guided autonomy and see my job in that area as twofold: 1) help students successfully and healthily navigate the graduate school process and 2) help graduate students cultivate their own research interests. My work with graduate students is typically project-based and I will invite students to join projects based on topical and methodological alignment.

BIO

Dr. Zulli’s research focuses on the interaction between communication theory, political rhetoric, and digital technology. In particular, she is interested in (a) how digital technology and social media affect social and political processes; (b) how political elites communicate strategically online an offline to influence public opinion; and (c) how news media portray political elites and events.

Dr. Zulli’s work has been published in a number of communication journals including Communication Theory, Critical Studies in Media Communication, New Media and Society, Social Media + Society, Information, Communication, & Society, and the International Journal of Communication, among others. Her research has also earned several top paper awards at the NCA, WSCA, and CSCA annual conferences. See her Google Scholar profile here.

Her teaching areas include American political communication, public relations, and crisis communication.

Before completing her doctoral degree, Dr. Zulli worked part time as a public relations specialist for The Government Technology Research Alliance and as an academic advisor for Texas Tech University.

Research Areas:

Social media and digital affordances; strategic political communication, crisis communication, qualitative methods

Website:

https://dzulli3.wixsite.com/my-site-1