Rate My Professor Shamala

Dr. Shamala R is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN), Thiruvarur, where she has served since June 2016 and is currently on lien. Prior to her appointment at CUTN, she worked at All India Radio. She holds a PhD in Mass Communication awarded in 2016 from the Department of Communication. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Shamala R coordinates the Community Radio Station at CUTN, enhancing practical training in media production and broadcasting. She actively supervises PhD scholars in media and communication, contributing to the next generation of researchers in the field.

Dr. Shamala R's academic interests focus on radio communication, ICT and media, digital divide, new media studies, rural communication, tribal and cultural communication, community media, and international communication. A regular member and presenter at International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) conferences, she engages in global scholarly discourse. As Principal Investigator, she directs an ICSSR Minor Research Project launched in 2023 on tribal-related communication themes, supported by funding of ₹1,200,000. Her publications appear in peer-reviewed journals and address contemporary issues. Key works include 'Contextualizing Southern Indian Rural Digital Divide: The complex play of ethnicity and gender' (2022, with Malini V, Vasuprdha K, Jishnu D), 'COVID-19 and online education: Digital inequality and other challenges in India' (2021, with M. Srinivasan, Jishnu D), 'Impact of Mass Mediated Sports Heroes on Life Style and Consumption Pattern among Rural Youth' (2017), 'A Study of ChatGPT Usage in Education' (2023, co-authored), and 'The Early Phase of Digital Activism: From the Zapatista' (2020). Her research has accumulated over 140 citations on Google Scholar, underscoring her impact in media studies, community media, and sports communication.