Dr. Sudeshna Roy wins IDEA Scholarship Award

Dr. Sudeshna Roy, associate professor in the Diederich College of Communication and Lucius W. Nieman Chair of Journalism, is the recipient of the 2025 IDEA Scholarship Award from the National Communication Association.

The IDEA Scholarship Award recognizes outstanding scholarly engagement with subject matters related to diversity, equity, inclusion and access. This engagement is evaluated based on its depth, impact, and extent of innovation on the researcher's chosen discipline.

"I am humbled and excited to be recognized in this way," Roy said. "This recognition means a great deal to me because it affirms that the stories we center matter and that scholarship that challenge systems of exclusion are essential to the future of our discipline. The NCA is one of the oldest and most steadfast supporters of vital and diverse academic communication research and I am grateful to NCA for recognizing my contributions."

Roy's research interests include the politics of representation in media, journalism education, media literacy and intercultural communication. Her most recent work maps the terrain of two of the most urgent conversations in the field: how communication shapes the possibilities for peace and justice across divided societies; and how race and ethnicity are being theorized, contested, and represented in contemporary times. Roy obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Calcutta in India and her doctoral degree from Washington State University.

The NCA is the largest communications association in the United States. It has more than 5,000 members nationwide, encompassing researchers, educators and practitioners.