Former PhD Students of Renee Hobbs

Renee Hobbs is proud to have supported the following scholars through the process of earning a PhD:

Rebecca Hains, Ph.D. Temple University, Mass Media and Communication, awarded 2008

  • Dissertation Title: "Negotiating Girl Power: Girlhood on Screen and in Everyday Life"
  • Current Position: Associate Professor of Communication, Salem State University, Salem MA

Hans Schmidt, PhD. Ph.D. Temple University, Mass Media and Communication. Awarded 2010

  • Dissertation Title: “Media Creation and the Net Generation: Comparing Faculty and Student Beliefs and Competencies Regarding Media Literacy within Higher Education”
  • Current Position: Associate Professor, Penn State University, Brandywine

Jiwon Yoon, Ph.D. Ph.D. Temple University, Mass Media and Communication. Awarded 2010

  • Dissertation Title: “Media Literacy Education to Promote Cultural Competence and Adaptation among Diverse Students: A Case Study of North Korean Refugees in South Korea”
  • Current Position: Associate Professor of Communication, Northwest University, Kirkland WA

Tina Peterson, PhD. Ph.D. Temple University, Mass Media and Communication. Awarded 2012

  • Dissertation Title: “So You Think You Can Cook? Visual Communication in Food Media, Meaning-making and Cooking Self-efficacy”
  • Current Position: Director, News Literacy Project, Houston TX

Kelly Mendoza, PhD. Ph.D. Temple University, Mass Media and CommunicationAwarded 2013

  • Dissertation Title: “Parental Mediation and Media Literacy”
  • Current Position: Senior Manager of Education Content and Curriculum, Common Sense Media, San Francisco CA

Michael RobbGrieco, PhD. Awarded 2014 Ph.D. Temple University, Mass Media and Communication

  • Dissertation Title: “Media for Media Literacy: Discourses of the Media Literacy Education Movement in Media & Values Magazine, 1977 – 1993”
  • Current Position: Director of Technology, Windham Unified Schools, VT

Lisa Provorara, Ph.D. Temple University, Mass Media and Communication Program. Awarded 2015. 

  • Dissertation Title: “Teaching about Gender Representation in High School”
  • Current Position: Lecturer, Department of Communication, University of Hartford CT

Jonathan Friesem PhD University of Rhode Island, School of Education. Awarded 2015

  • Dissertation Title: “On Becoming a Digital Literacy Mentor”
  • Current Position: Assistant Professor, Central Connecticut State University

Mary Moen, PhD University of Rhode Island, School of Education. Awarded 2015

  • Dissertation Title: “Teachers' Self-Directed Informal Learning Experiences For Technology Integration: An Exploratory Study”
  • Current Position: Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, University of Rhode Island

Jillian Belanger, PhD University of Rhode Island. Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Awarded 2017.

  • Dissertation Title: Speaking Truth to Power: Stand-Up Comedians as Sophists, Jesters, Public Intellectuals and Activists
  • Current Position: Gateway to College Program Director, Roger William University

Alyson Snowe, PhD University of Rhode Island, Department of Writing and Rhetoric. Awarded 2017.

  • Dissertation Title: Exploring the Use of NoRedInk as a Tool for Composition Instruction
  • Current Position: Lecturer, Department of English. Three Rivers Community College

Hailee Dunn. PhD University of Rhode Island, Department of Psychology.

Clarissa Walker, University of Rhode Island, Department of Writing and Rhetoric

  • Dissertation Title: “There is no racism in Cuba: A Field Study of the Post-Race Rhetoric of Modern Cuba"
  • Current Position: Director of the Writing Center, Rhode Island College 

Current PhD Students: • Zoey Wang, University of Rhode Island, School of Education • Mark Davis, University of Rhode Island, School of Education • Cornelia Trahan, University of Rhode Island, School of Education • Samantha Stanley, University of Hong Kong