ANNOUNCEMENTS: Villanova University's Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society (WFI) 2025/2026 WFI Research Grants
Waterhouse Family Institute, wfi@villanova.eduVillanova University’s Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society (WFI) is proud to announce and celebrate the recipients of the 2025/2026 WFI Research Grants.
The WFI—endowed by Mr. Lawrence Waterhouse, Jr., and housed within Villanova University’s Department of Communication—was founded on the principle that scholars, activists, and practitioners of communication have an important role to play in the creation of a socially just world. One of the ways that we enact this mission is through the annual funding of research grants. Each year, the WFI Research Grant Program supports the work of Communication scholars across the world, work examining communication, its impact on the world around us, and its ability to create social change and social justice.
Watch COMMNotes in early 2026 for announcements from the WFI including our call for 2026-2027 Research Grants!
OUR 2025/26 WFI RESEARCH GRANT RECIPIENTS: (in alphabetical order, by PI):
- Amina Akbar, University of Pittsburgh, ($7,000)
- Jovana Andelkovic, University of Texas Austin, ($8,000)
- Sohinee Bera, Cornell University, ($5,688)
- Bidisha Chanda, Jadavpur University and Pleqsus India Foundation,
Additional Investigator(s)/Researcher(s): Avinaba Dutta, Pleqsus India Foundation and National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR),
Additional Investigator(s)/Researcher(s): Vanishree Joseph, NIRDPR,
Additional Researcher(s): Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Pleqsus India Foundation, ($10,000)
- Amanda Denes, University of Connecticut,
Additional Investigator(s)/Researcher(s): Jacqueline Gunning,
University of Connecticut, ($7,745)
- Georgia Ennis, Western Carolina University,
Additional Investigator(s)/Researcher(s): Vincent Russell, Western Carolina University, ($9,912)
- Max Erdemandi, University of Maryland,
Additional Investigator(s)/Researcher(s): Lahne Mattas-Curry, University of Maryland,
Additional Investigator(s)/Researcher(s): Max Groznik, University of Utah, ($9, 750)
- Jiaying Liu, University of California Santa Barbara, ($9,990)
- Shuning Lu, University of Maryland, ($9,971.50)
- Shaunak Sastry, University of Cincinnati
Additional Investigator(s)/Researcher(s): Usman Bah, University of Cincinnati, ($9,759)
Please join the WFI Director, Villanova University, and the Waterhouse Family in congratulating these
awardees. For more information about research projects, please visit: