Elmie Nekmat is from Singapore and is a doctoral candidate in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, The University of Alabama. He graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Hons) and Master of Arts in Communications and New Media from the National University of Singapore. He is also a recipient of the National University of Singapore’s Overseas Graduate Scholarship.
Elmie’s research focuses on the role of online communication in public opinion formation, strategic communication, and public relations. He also researches media literacy, particularly literacies pertaining to digital technologies. His works have been published in several conference proceedings, as chapters in books, and in communication journals which include the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, and Science, Technology, and Society. He has received student and faculty top research paper awards in several national and international conferences organized by the International Communication Association, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and Broadcast Education Association.
Prior to joining UA, Elmie taught as a graduate teaching assistant in the Communications andNew Media Department at the National University of Singapore from 2007 to 2010. The classes taught included principles of communication management, social psychology of new media, intercultural communication, and e-learning. He has completed several work and research-related stints with various organizations including the public relations department in Singapore Airlines, the research and planning department in Singapore’s Criminal Investigation Department, and AC Nielsen Research Singapore. He was an avid volunteer and promoter of the Singapore National Library Board media literacy program for underprivileged children, KidsRead, since 2005. He served his national service as a commissioned Assistant Superintendent of Police for the Singapore Police Force.
Elmie currently teaches the social psychology of new media in the College of Communication and Information Sciences. His dissertation examines the communicative effects of online message sources on individuals’ willingness to participate in different thresholds of collective activities. Elmie has received invitations for postdoctoral work and intends to join the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as a visiting scholar to further his research on online social communication, online information credibility, and media literacy.
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