Joshua Barbour

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Submit to our special issue Hybrid Organizing for Social Good: Implications for Communication. 3/31/26

journals.sagepub.com/page/mcq/202...

On Saturday, the American people will rise up again for a truly historic day of defiance. Make your plan to be part of the biggest day of peaceful protest in modern US history: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings

Two minutes out!! Drop on by for a visit.

How can local news thrive?
A study by @EmilyVanDuyn and @TaliaStroud finds that engaged journalism — where journalists connect more directly with communities — may be part of the answer.

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

Green and gold flyer announcing an award presentation

I’m doing a thing at @sacstate.bsky.social today. #sacstate #research #nerdalert

AI medical tools downplay symptoms in women and ethnic minorities Large language models reflect biases that can lead to inferior healthcare advice to female, Black and Asian patients

AI medical tools downplay symptoms in women and ethnic minorities on.ft.com/46ILa9z

Luckily, Sinclair has a helpful database of all their stations, so you can see if they're operating in your area and respond accordingly.

sbgi.net/tv-stations/

How to Lead Conversations within a Highly Polarized Political Context. Advice for teachers and leaders of all kinds about how to communicate for democracy

How to Lead Conversations within a Highly Polarized Political Context.
open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say.

This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.

All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.

New Issue Alert! Introducing the JoC Special Issue: Qualitative Theorizing and Methodological Advancements, edited by Kristina M. Scharp, Elizabeth A. Hintz @elizabethahintz.bsky.social and Sandra Vera Zambrano
Check it out here: academic.oup.com/joc/issue

Illinois is now the number one state in the Midwest to work in.

This ranking reflects our work in making Illinois the best state in the nation to do business, raise a family, and thrive.

Republicans have tossed the rulebook out.

Here in Illinois, we will do whatever it takes to preserve democracy.

Congratulations to UIUC's own Dr. Kaiyu Guan who is receiving national recognition for his groundbreaking work in food security and environmental sustainability!

YouTube video by Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois The Art of Science

Will Barley! youtu.be/8u8GB44WuDg?...

What Happens When You Trade Doomscrolling for Hopescrolling Our phones have become misery machines. Hopescrolling can change that.

What Happens When You Trade Doomscrolling for Hopescrolling: Doomscrolling turns our phones into misery machines—and makes us see the world as a mean, scary place. Here's what happened when Jennifer Mercieca's students tried hopescrolling instead
www.zocalopublicsquare.org/what-happens...

This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed three sessions under the same condition. In a fourth session, LLM users were reassigned to Brain-only group (LLM-to-Brain), and Brain-only users were reassigned to LLM condition (Brain-to-LLM). A total of 54 participants took part in Sessions 1-3, with 18 completing session 4. We used electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive load during essay writing, and analyzed essays using NLP, as well as scoring essays with the help from human teachers and an AI judge. Across groups, NERs, n-gram patterns, and topic ontology showed within-group homogeneity. EEG revealed significant differences in brain connectivity: Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity. Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use. In session 4, LLM-to-Brain participants showed reduced alpha and beta connectivity, indicating under-engagement. Brain-to-LLM users exhibited higher memory recall and activation of occipito-parietal and prefrontal areas, similar to Search Engine users. Self-reported ownership of essays was the lowest in the LLM group and the highest in the Brain-only group. LLM users also struggled to accurately quote their own work. While LLMs offer immediate convenience, our findings highlight potential cognitive costs. Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning.

Looks like oral exams after LLM use may not be the easy fix some are hoping for. arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

Huge congratulations to my brilliant Rutgers colleague Sophia Fu for receiving the #ICA25 Early Career Scholar Award!

So glad to see her important work recognized with this prestigious award!

Ten actions every one of us can take to defend democracy Every sector of society is under threat. We must work together.

Ten actions every one of us can take to defend democracy
open.substack.com/pub/jennifer...

Thanks to a great team: Quinn Grundy, Nandini Sharma, @jadeshiva.bsky.social, @barbourjosh.bsky.social, Justin Rousseau, @zoltanmajdik.bsky.social, and Lisa Bero

Read article here: rdcu.be/elVHg

Interprofessional Communication in Health and Social Care This is an Open Access book.This book aims to fill that gap by offering practitioners, policy makers, interprofessional curriculum builders, and students

Excited to share open access to this new book edited by Drs.
Stephanie Fox, Kirstie McAllum, Leena Mikkola. Dr. Cassidy Doucet and I contributed a chapter. If you’re interested in professions, healthcare organizing, or interprofessional communication, check it out! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

OCMC 2025

publish.illinois.edu/ocmc-2025/

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

FYI: The Spencer Foundation, Kapor Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have collaborated to offer $25K rapid response grants.

"This rapid response bridge funding opportunity is for scholars and teams whose grants have recently been cancelled by NSF."

For the last 3 yrs, I was the director for the Science of Science program at the NSF. We funded projects on science communication - science communication to the public, communication of public priorities to scientists, citizens engagement & participation in science. 🧵

A Disaster for American Innovation The Trump administration is jeopardizing the AI boom.

Silicon Valley could not have come up with some of its most valuable ideas without government support, @matteowong.bsky.social writes. Withholding federal funding for academic research is “rapidly eroding the engine of scientific innovation in America.” www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Over 1,200 protests took place in all 50 states today including this massive one in Boston. Beautiful. 💙👊

Entrance to Musem Vrolik. White brick corridor with fat trim black outlined doorway. Blue sign of museum name and posters of anatomical specimens on the wall.

Sharing a little bit more about my NEH-sponsored research on anatomical museums today. I have no idea if this project will retain funding, but I am incredibly grateful for the NEH program officers and reviewers who have made so much humanities research possible. sscottgraham.com/archives/911

‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs In shock move, four institute directors at the US biomedical agency are removed from their posts.

“This will go down as one of the darkest days in modern scientific history” 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

graph of NIH basisfor new drugs

A pie graph worth keeping in mind as the NIH budget plummets jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... for 356 new FDA drugs approved

Georgetown has put together resources for federal workers who may be facing a transition in jobs. These include various seminars and workshops, as well as tuition scholarships providing a discount on many master's programs and certificates. Please spread the word to anybody who might benefit.