About

Keith N. Hampton, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Media and Information, and Director of Academic Research at the Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law at Michigan State University (MSU). Hampton studies community and the relationship between digital media, social networks, and inequality. His recent research has focused on the outcomes of persistent contact and pervasive awareness through social media, including stress, self-esteem, tolerance, belief in a just world, exposure to diverse points of view, and willingness to voice opinions. He is currently leading a longitudinal study of the relationship between digital inequality amongst rural adolescents, the COVID-19 pandemic, and academic achievement. Past work includes studies of neighboring, public spaces, democratic engagement, and the urban environment. He has offered graduate- and undergraduate- level courses in social network analysis, communication and technology, and research methods.

Before joining the faculty at MSU, Hampton held the position of Endowed Professor in Communication and Public Policy in the Department of Communication at Rutgers University; Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania; and Assistant Professor of Technology, Urban and Community Sociology and Class of '43 Endowed Chair in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from the University of Toronto, and a B.A. (Hons) in sociology from the University of Calgary.

Hampton's research has received a number of awards and honors in recognition of his contributions. This includes the 2022 William F. Ogburn Career Achievement Award from the Section on Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS). In 2017 he was elected a member of the Sociological Research Association.

 

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