College Directory

Sriram Kalyanaraman, Ph.D.

Professor - Department of Journalism
Director - Media Effects and Technology Lab
UF Online Learning Institute

Office: 2012 Weimer Phone: 352-392-0500 Email:

Bio

Dr. Sriram “Sri” Kalyanaraman (sri@jou.ufl.edu) is Professor of Journalism at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. He is affiliated with the Online Learning Institute (OLI) and is director of the Media Effects and Technology Lab. At UF, he is co-founder of the Virtual Reality for Social Good (VR4SG) initiative. Previously, he was a faculty member and director of the Media Effects Laboratory at the University of North Carolina’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. At UNC, Dr. Kalyanaraman had an adjunct appointment at the School of Information and Library Science, was affiliated with the Interaction Design Lab, and was a founding member of UNC’s Interdisciplinary Health Communication (IHC) certificate program. Dr. Kalyanaraman’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mysore University, India, and an interdisciplinary PhD in mass communication from Penn State, with a focus on marketing, psychology, statistics, and technology.

Dr. Kalyanaraman’s primary research attempts to answer a fundamental question: How do various forms and elements of storytelling help shed light on the complexities of human life and society? He is especially interested in using immersive media platforms (e.g.,, virtual reality) to improve the human spirit and condition based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) program and focuses on such issues as climate science, good health and well-being, and diversity issues, among others. Dr. Kalyanaraman’s research has been funded by both government (e.g., National Institutes of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Ministry of Economy—Government of Spain) and industry (e.g., Janssen Pharmaceutica) and he has been published in journals such as Nature Scientific Reports, Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Advertising, Media Psychology, Health Psychology, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, New Media and Society, Health Communication, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, AIDS Education and Prevention, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Ethics and Information Technology, among others.

Dr. Kalyanaraman serves or has served on multiple editorial boards including Journal of Communication, Human Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, among others, and was a co-editor of the interdisciplinary journal, Media Psychology (2011-2014). He is the recipient of the 2011 Hillier-Krieghbaum Award conferred by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and the Florida Education Foundation’s William R. Jones Outstanding Doctoral Mentor Award.

Dr. Kalyanaraman teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in new media and communication technology, media psychology, and research methodology. He has developed and co-teaches a course on applying immersive storytelling using VR for solving social and societal issues. This class, which has gained currency as one of the largest VR classes in the world, integrates conceptual and applied skills while promoting a model of social entrepreneurship. He also teaches courses on human-technology interaction, perspectives on digital marketing, persuasion, effects of technology on self and society, process and effects of mass communication, communication theory, research methods, experimental design and analysis, ethics and decision making, among others. He has developed and taught Honors courses on The Beatles’ Legacy and morality and mortality.

Education

Ph.D., Mass Communication, Pennsylvania State University, 2002
B.E., Electrical Engineering, Mysore University, 1993

News

Publications

Select Recent Publications

Wojdynski, B., & Kalyanaraman, S. (in press). The three dimensions of Website navigability: Explication and effects. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology.

Kalyanaraman, S., & Wojdynski, B. (2015). Affording control: How customization, interactivity, and navigability affect psychological responses to technology. In S. S. Sundar (Ed.), The handbook of the psychology of communication technology. Wiley-Blackwell.

Lyons, E. J., Tate, D. F., Ward, D. S., Ribisl, K., Bowling, J. B., & Kalyanaraman, S. (2014). Engagement, enjoyment, and energy expenditure during active video game play. Health Psychology, 33(2), 174-181.

Turner-McGrievy, G., Kalyanaraman, S., & Campbell, M. (2013). Delivering health information via podcast or Web: Media effects on psychosocial and physiological responses. Health Communication, 28(2), 101-109.

Li, C., & Kalyanaraman, S. (2013). “I, me, mine” or “Us, we, ours?” The influence of cultural psychology on Web-based customization. Media Psychology. 16(3), 272-294.

Courses

Syllabi from the current and three previous semesters: