Atsushi Tajima

Professor of Communication
Blake B 119
585-245-6327
tajima@geneseo.edu

Atsushi Tajima has been a member of the Geneseo faculty since 2007.

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Office Hours Fall 2024

Mondays and Wednesdays 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm

or by appointment, please email at: tajima@geneseo.edu

If immediate assistance is needed please see Department Secretary Noreen Mazurowski.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

  • Ph.D. in Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2006)

  • M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • B.A. in Journalism and Public Communication, University of Alaska Anchorage

  • A.S. (US equivalent) in Mechanical Engineering, Nagao National College of Technology, Japan

Affiliations

  • Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

  • Eastern Communication Association

  • International Communication Association

  • National Communication Association

More About Me

Interests

mass communication
media effects
media and cultural studies
gender
race and ethnicity
research methods

Research and Teaching Interests

Dr. Tajima tries to understand how the media operate, produce cultural products, and shape ways audiences think about themselves and their world. He emphasizes the extent to which we learn about society, such as politics, ourselves, and how to behave the social norm from mass-mediated messages. He tries to answer those inquiries through critical theories of race, ethnicity, gender, social class, globalization, media production, and audience effect. While Dr. Tajima primarily teaches mass media, media effect, critical and cultural studies, and visual communication, he also encourages students to craft their own research; he has directed a total of 132 student research projects during 2011–24, all presented at professional conferences. Because of this research mentorship, he was the recipient of the 2013 Drs. Carol and Michael Harter Endowment for Faculty Mentoring Award.

 

His recent research appears in Journal of Magazines and New Media Research, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Newspaper Research JournalCommunication and Critical/Cultural Studies, Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, and Feminist Media Studies.

Classes

  • COMN 260: Intro to Mass Communication

    This course covers mass communication in both historical and contemporary contexts. Students are introduced to the broad sociocultural function of mass media, as well as the specific function of each medium. The course explores roles of mass communication in terms of the societal impact, technology, and the effects on individuals.

  • WRTG 105: Wrtg: Crit Decoding of Media

    Writing Seminar lays the foundation for students to participate insightfully in both written and oral academic conversations. The course focuses on three modes of written and oral communication: communication as an ongoing persuasive dialogue with multiple audiences, communication with a reflective self, and communication with a dynamic evolving text. The course also introduces elements of information literacy and critical thinking needed to develop and evaluate academic conversation. Writing Seminar is typically taken by new students in their first two semesters, often as the introduction to general education, to our library, and to academic support services as sites of collaboration rather than remediation. As many new students' only seminar-style class, Writing Seminar can help lay the foundations of not only academic but also social success.