A Penn State faculty member recognized internationally as an expert on information and communication technologies (ICT) has been invited to talk at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China.
Distinguished professor S. Shyam Sundar will present “Social Psychology of ICT Use” on May 15, in a panel on ICT Use and Urban Life.
The Shanghai World Expo opened last weekend at a fair site measuring more than two square miles. And, with more than 190 countries participating, officials expect nearly 100 foreign leaders and 100 million people to visit, making it the largest world’s fair in history.
The overarching theme for the 184-day exposition is “Better City, Better Life,” and organizers plan to examine how the continuing progress of information and communication technologies impact growth of modern cities and the process of urban development. The forum on ICT and Urban Development is organized by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the International Telecommunication Union.
Sundar’s research investigates social and psychological effects of technological elements in communication media. In particular, his studies experimentally investigate the effects of interactivity, navigability, multi-modality and agency (source attribution) in Web interfaces upon online users’ thoughts, emotions and actions.
He was among the first to publish refereed research on the effects of new media in Journal of Communication, the flagship publication of the International Communication Association (ICA). His work has also appeared in such leading journals as Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Human Communication Research, Media Psychology, Behaviour & Information Technology, and The Information Society.
A member of the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies, Sundar is the founder of the Media Effects Research Laboratory housed in the College of Communications. He teaches courses in the psychology of communication technology, mass communication theory and research methodology.
A frequently cited source on technology, Sundar has testified before the U.S. Congress as an expert witness and delivered talks at several universities in the United States, Germany, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Korea and India. He is currently chair of Communication & Technology Division and Vice-President of the International Communication Association.