Humanities and Social Sciences

Grace Y. Choi earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a master’s degree in Media and Cinema Studies from DePaul University, and a Ph.D. in Mass Media from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Professionally, she worked as a social media coordinator for Dreams for Kids and as a data analyst for Kansas City Women in Technology.

Dr. Choi’s research and teaching interests include digital literacy, digital production, social media, media psychology, prosocial effects, and creativity. She is passionate about digital technologies as they helped her to express her creativity and learn about new culture when she came to America at a young age. Hence, her work primarily focuses on making real-world impacts on digital literacy education and culture. She believes that anyone can be creative and is especially interested in empowering marginalized groups through accessible digital technologies, which can help to produce more creative ideas and diverse representations in the technology field. Her previous work examined the educational value of engaging in social media production, such as selfies, vlogs, and music promotion, which gave a rise to female digital musicians, YouTube beauty gurus, and sharenting. She is currently working on observing therapeutic effects from Tweeting, and plans to work on research that can generate more creative gamification ideas in classrooms.

At DigiPen, Dr. Choi teaches communication, sociology, and psychology courses that help to establish concrete foundational grounding and skills. She loves learning about new, interesting games from her students and is constantly inspired by their passion. She hopes students will develop their critical thinking skills to analyze messages and effects so that they will positively affect society when they are engaged in media production.

Selected Publications

• Choi, G. Y. and Lewallen, J. M., “ ‘Say Instagram, kids!’: Examining sharenting and children’s digital representations on Instagram,” 1-21. The Howard Journal of Communications. 2017. dx.doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2017.1327380.
• Choi, G. Y. and Behm-Morawitz, E, “Giving a new makeover to STEAM: Establishing YouTube beauty gurus as digital literacy educators through messages and effects on viewers,” Computers in Human Behavior, 73, 80-91. 2017. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.034
• Choi, G. Y. and Behm-Morawitz, E., “Teach me about yourself(ie): Exploring selfie-takers’ technology usage and digital literacy skills,” Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 5(4). 2016. doi:10.1037/ppm0000130
• Choi, G. Y., “ ‘Who run the music? Girls!’: Examining the construction of female digital musicians’ online presence,” Popular Music & Society, 40(4). 2016. doi:10.1080/03007766.2016.1174419

Claire Alexander-Joly holds multiple higher education degrees from several major universities including a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in English from the Sorbonne in Paris, France, her home town and country. In 1986, she came to the United States on a university exchange program that allowed her to pursue her interest in American culture and led to a second master’s degree.

During her first two years in America, Alexander-Joly became interested in the country’s racial and ethnic relations. This shift of focus led to a Ph.D. in Comparative Cultures (similar to Ethnic Studies) from the University of California at Irvine where she wrote her Ph.D. dissertation on the critical reception of Richard Wright’s works. Upon completing her studies, she joined the University of Notre Dame where she worked as an Assistant Professor in American Studies. In 1998, she received an N.A.A.C.P Image Award for her work with African American students.

Alexander-Joly started teaching at DigiPen in 2000 and became a full-time member of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty in 2006. In 2008, she became department chair and remained in that position until 2016. Alexander-Joly teaches writing, storytelling, and scriptwriting among other things. She has also taught courses on race, ethnicity, and gender identity.

Because she understands the importance of making her curriculum relevant to her students, Alexander-Joly strives to relate it to games, film, and technology. She is particularly interested in story-based games, games that address issues of diversity, and serious games. Whenever possible, she finds ways to bring her world and her students’ world together. You might even catch her playing a game or two. In her quiet time, she enjoys reading, writing, singing, and going to the theatre.

Dr. Christopher Hawk received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington & Jefferson College. He went on to earn his master’s degree, with an emphasis in clinical psychology, from Cleveland State University, as well as his Ph.D., with an emphasis in applied social psychology, from Brigham Young University.

Dr. Hawk’s primary area of research involves the effects of violent media on aggression. He is particularly interested in investigating the effects of video games on aggressive and prosocial behavior.

Hellen Kailiti holds a Doctor of Education degree from Southeastern Louisiana University (Go Lions!). She also has a Master of Arts in English and Linguistics from Kenyatta University and a Bachelor of Education from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. She has worked in higher education for over eight years in Kenya and the United States. Before embarking on her doctoral studies, she taught English and Communication skills at Laikipia University for six years. Currently, she teaches English and communication in different colleges in Washington state.

Kailiti’s areas of expertise include the communicative aspect of language, leadership models in education, language learning, comprehension, gender and language, and intercultural communication. She has authored articles on comprehension, language stereotypes, women leadership, and also co-authored several articles on global leadership issues. Currently, she is undertaking research on non-verbal cues in communication.

Kailiti has worked as an assistant professor at DigiPen since 2019 where she teaches interpersonal and workplace communication. The students at DigiPen are very motivating because they do their research thoroughly, provide feedback in a timely manner, and are generally engaged throughout the learning process. There is a lot of commitment among the faculty, leadership, and student body at DigiPen which makes it a great place to work.

Selected Credits/Publications

• Kailiti, H. (2019). “Systematizing the Communicative Aspect of English in Kenyan Schools: Quandaries of Classroom Instruction,” Journal of Language and Communication Studies, (under review).
• Kailiti, H. (2018). “Contending with Gender Stereotypes Strategically: A Grounded Theory of Women Leadership in Higher Education in Kenya,” ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.
• Kailiti, H. (2017). “Circumventing Novice Teacher Imbroglio in Kenya: A Proposed Mentorship Program,” Journal of Educational Research, 2(10), 1-25.
• Kailiti, H., & Adams, N. (2017). “Women in the C-Suite: Do They Have the Globe Enthralled?” Journal of Advocacy, Research and Education,4(3), 156-167.
• Kailiti, H. (2017). “Does Classroom Interaction Encompass Gender Stereotyping? The Practice among Teachers in Kenya,” IISTE Journal of Education and Practice, 8(34), 39-47.
• Kailiti, H. (2017). “Passage Categorization and Comprehension among Kenyan Students,” International Journal of Language and Applied Linguistics, 3(1).
• Kailiti, H. (2010). “The Contextualization of Lexical Items in Chinua Achebe’s ‘Arrow of God,’” Kenyatta University Theses and Dissertations.