Albert Gunther

Professor

photoalgunther.jpg Office: 314 Hiram Smith Hall
Phone: 608.262.1506
Email: agunther@wisc.edu

Background

As a professor in the Life Sciences Communication Department, I teach undergraduate courses in journalism and graduate seminars in communication theory and research. My research program focuses on mass media and public opinion and the psychology of the mass media audience. I have extensive international experience, particularly in Southeast Asia and Europe.

My current research has two major components:

  • The hostile media effect, which deals with interpretation and evaluation of mass media content and especially perceptual biases in the media audience. I have studied this idea in the context of science-related controversies such as the use of primates in lab research and a broad range of disputes over biotechnology developments, especially genetically modified foods.
  • The presumed influence hypothesis, which examines the tendency to assume mass media influences others, and various consequences of that assumption. This research has recently focused on public health issues, particularly adolescent smoking. My research is supported by the NIH, the USDA, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and other agencies. I am also a member of the UW Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention.

I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the early 1970s, and also conduct research and occasionally teach in other countries. I am a member of the UW Center for Southeast Asian Studies and LSC coordinator for the Masters International Program which enables students to combine Peace Corps service with a graduate degree program.

Academic Experience

1988 to present
University of Wisconsin-Madison , faculty member in Department of Life Sciences Communicaiton (formerly Agricultural Journalism) also Center for Southeast Asia Studies.

2006-2007
Academic sabbatical leave in France ; working with colleagues in several European universities.

1998
University of Otago ( Dunedin , New Zealand ), Department of Geography, Visiting Professor, (spring term sabbatical).

1993-1994
National University of Singapore , Visiting Professor, Mass Communication Program.

1987-1988
University of Minnesota , Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

1983-1987
Stanford University, Teaching Fellow, Department of Communication.

1975-1982
Black Hills State College , Associate Professor and Journalism Department Director.

1972-1974
Institut Teknoloji MARA, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , Lecturer in Journalism.