Professor, Media & Cultural Studies
Dept. of Communication, Media & Performance
Allegheny College
Box 45. 520 North Main Street
Meadville, PA 16335
EMAIL: iroy@allegheny.edu
As a Professor of Media & Cultural Studies at Allegheny College, a founding member of
Colleges That Change Lives, ...
I encourage adaptive thinking, lifelong inquiry,and problem-solving that is grounded in global perspectives and ethical outcomes.
DEGREES EARNED
B.A & M.A
(English Lit.)
Bombay University, India
M.A. & Ph.D (Communication)
Annenberg School for Communication at the
University of Southern California,
Los Angeles
Global Media
Media and Storytelling
Postcolonial Studies & Nation Branding
Integrated Marketing Communication & Brand Storytelling
Representation and Identity
Emerging Media Technologies & Trends
Our next Alumni Tour is to Kenya (East Africa) in the summer of 2028. My faculty colleague (Dr. Lauren French, Professor of Biology and Neuroscience) and I will lead a group of 24 alumni and their guests across a 14 day tour that promises to be an eye-opening and un-learning voyage of discovery. The group will have exclusive meetings with award-winning conservationists and researchers, entrepreneurs, innovators, social change makers. It's an exercise in learning, the liberal arts way, how their incredible work is informed by the Kenyan spirit of harambee or pulling together to develop community solutions. Are you an Allegheny College alumnus interested in participating in this tour? Visit the College's "Magical Kenya" Alumni Tours webpage and register for an upcoming Zoom information session.
In summer 2026, an intergenerational group of 31 Allegheny alumni across different cohorts, took an immersive experiential tour with my co-faculty leader Dr. Eric Palmer (Retired Professor, Philosophy) and me, across northwest India. We explored contrasting "ideas of India," and discovered how Gators are lifelong lovers of learning. Read more about their experience here.
 Tattered Corners New & Used Bookstore |  Class-designed logo |
|---|---|
 Owner Jen Murphy at the event |  Collection of stories on the class-designed website |
 A sample story from the class-designed website |  Read one student's account of the experience (on the right) |
Read Drew Hairston's ('28) experience of Allegheny College and on this "Branding & Storytelling project above, and here.
In spring 2026, students in my "Branding and Storytelling" undergraduate course worked on a project with a local community partner, Jen Murphy, owner of the Tattered Corners New & Used Bookstore in Meadville. The course was co-taught by the Dean of the Pelletier Library at Allegheny College, Tressa Snyder, who helped studuents think about how to work information literacy into the messaging.
Students devised a logo and slogan. They also designed a website linking community stories to books with shared themes in the bookstore, and a linked social media campaign highlighting these stories. At a public event at the downtown public library, students shared their journey, what they had learned through the collaboration, and there was a reading of some of the community stories on the website. Attendees were encouraged to purchase books that were donated to the local middle school.
Thrilled to host a former student Kristen Lauth-Shaeffer ('03), who was double major in Communication and Theater. Kristen re-visited her Alma Mater, thanks to the Allegheny College Public Humanities Program, which sponsored the event. During her talk, she unpacked examples of her work, including the immersive 360 VR video "By the Waters of Babylon," and showed students how to take an idea and develop it into a creative-critical piece.
"By the Waters of Babylon," takes viewers into the world of composers silenced by the Holocaust and a string quartet’s mission to make this music heard. It was awarded the hashtag#VIFFImmersed Best in Documentary Award at Vancouver International Film Festival.
Most recently, Kristen was recommended for The Academy Gold Fellowship for Women, a fellowship by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that is designed to inspire emerging women filmmakers. Making us proud and showing what a liberal arts education can do!
From the Campus News
Allegheny Alumni Magazine (Fall 2024)
"A Career Connection Made for Hollywood" by Jennifer Rignani
This piece covers the incredible collaboration with Hollywood producer and alumnus, Lloyd Segan ('80) who, along with diverse media, technology, and labor advocacy professionals, enriched my introductory course in Media & Cultures (Spring 2024).
Alumni Profile
John Meyer ('04) by Jennifer Rignani
An alumnus reflects on how Allegheny College empowered him to reach for the stars.
