Ingrid Sturgis, an assistant professor specializing in new media in the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at Howard University, is “fully connected.” Firmly rooted in traditional as well as digital journalism, she has worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Times-Herald Record, and the Poughkeepsie Journal and as a managing editor for magazine start-ups BET Weekend and Savoy. She began working in interactive media in 1985 as a member of the New York Time’s videotext project. She has worked online since 2001 in positions such as as a senior programming manager for AOL’s Black Voices, as editor-in-chief for Essence.com, and as a Web strategist for heartandsoul.com.
Consequently, digital media has become the focus of Ingrid’s research, which addresses the disparity in broadband adoption and how mobile adoption will impact minority communities in the U.S. It primarily aims to examine how Blacks and other unrepresented groups can utilize mobile technology and social media to empower their communities, which is critical for a healthy democratic society.
Her research led her to develop fully-connected.com, a new vision in digital media that aims to connect people from Atlanta to Accra through interactive journalism and mobile technology. Her research interests also encompasses mobile money, the digital divide, game mechanics in education, new media entrepreneurship, the black press and digital literacy.
Her interests have earned her coveted fellowships from the Fulbright-Hays Program, the Society of New Communications Research, the Knight Digital Media Center, the Dow Jones News Fund, the Kopenhaver Center and the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. She is regularly invited to present at national and regional conferences and has advised a variety of organizations on social media strategy.
Ingrid has been particularly interested in Howard students’ engagement with social media. She has encouraged them to pursue their interest in social media in courses such as Multimedia Storytelling, News Game and Digital Media Literacy. She is the author of the critically acclaimed “The Nubian Wedding Book: Words and Rituals to Celebrate and Plan an African-American Wedding,” and the anthology “Are Traditional Media Dead: Can Journalism Survive in the Digital World.” Ingrid has a master’s in journalism from New York University, a B.A. in art from City College of New York.