Gratale and Prasad Win 2018 James D. Woods Award
The award recognizes Annenberg graduate students for outstanding teaching.
Doctoral Students Stefanie Gratale and Revati Prasad received the James D. Woods Award at the 2018 Annenberg Graduation Ceremony. Given in memory of Annenberg graduate student James D. Woods, the award is granted to an outstanding graduate teaching assistant.
While it is customary to give the Woods Award to a doctoral student serving as a teaching assistant in an undergraduate course, Gratale was nominated for Professor Robert C. Hornik’s graduate class COMM 522: Introduction to Research Methods.
“Half or more of the students entering our doctoral program are new to standard quantitative social science research,” said Hornik, Wilbur Schramm Professor of Communication and Health Policy. “COMM 522 is their introduction, and Stef played such a needed role in helping them move through their first semester.”
Students in COMM 522 enthusiastically reviewed Gratale, and Hornik praised her commitment to addressing the concerns of students in need of additional instruction.
Gratale's research interests include health communication, persuasion, and message effects. She studies how mass media and social media can influence public attitudes, interpersonal dialogue, and health behaviors.
Prasad was nominated for her work as a teaching assistant in Professor Marwan M. Kraidy’s undergraduate class COMM 419: Communication, Culture and Revolution.
“Revati genuinely cares about teaching and has an abiding commitment to improve her pedagogical skills,” said Kraidy, Professor of Communication and the Anthony Shadid Chair in Global Media, Politics & Culture. “She was always exceedingly well-prepared, and her lesson outlines were meticulous.”
The students in the course lauded Prasad for her teaching abilities, her assistance with their academic endeavors, and her dedication to supporting them as individuals.
Prasad studies global media and technology, focusing on issues of information access, including infrastructure, policy (and the politics thereof), and the journalism industry. She has won two ICA top paper awards this year.
