Jenny Jiang and Shannon Zenner joined the School of Communications in fall 2019 as assistant professors.
The School of Communications welcomed two new faculty members with impressive professional and educational experience this fall.
Jenny Jiang
Jiang is a computational social scientist with expertise in big data analytics, social media analytics, data mining and visualization, social and semantic network analysis, and international communication. She received her doctorate in communication science from the University of California, Davis in 2017.
Her recent professional experience includes working as a researcher and data analyst at a social media analysis and creation lab in Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication. While there, she also taught visual communication and data analytics for computation journalism and digital media studies.
She looks forward to providing students with hands-on training and helping to equip them with key professional skills.
“I am very excited to join Elon University,” Jiang said. “I look forward to helping students build capabilities of telling interesting and meaningful stories from analyzing big data generated from both traditional and digital media, and helping them become more competitive on the analytics job market.”
In 2018, Jiang won first place in the faculty paper competition of the Communication Technology Division at AEJMC’s annual conference.
Shannon Zenner
Zenner has an extensive professional background in advertising, working for several agencies and assisting an array of clients, ranging from Bank of America to Dairy Queen. She has more than 15 years of educational experience teaching advertising, graphic design, photography, broadcasting, web design and social media. In December, she expects to receive her doctorate in mass communications from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
Her current research is centered around the intersection of visual communication and political advertising, specifically looking at how differences in audience visual tastes may impact the persuasiveness of advertising. Her most recent conference paper was awarded Top Student Paper in the Visual Communication Division at the 2018 AEJMC national conference.
She is eager to join the ranks of the School of Communications and its close-knit community of faculty, staff and students.
“I am so excited for the amazing opportunity I have in joining the tremendous faculty at Elon and the engaged and spirited student body,” Zenner said. “I look forward to challenging students who demand an experiential and engaged classroom.”