Hi, I'm Emily Van Duyn
I am an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
My research explores why people talk (or do not talk) about politics and the role of digital media in facilitating a space for community and political discourse. I tackle these questions using diverse methodologies, including surveys, experiments, interviews, and ethnography. My recent book with Oxford University Press explores the reasons why individuals do not express their political opinions in public and how they express those opinions and organize in secret. This work is concerned with the effects of social, geographic, and political polarization and how this threatens liberal democratic norms.
My work has been published in a number of leading journals, including the Journal of Communication, Mass Communication and Society, Social Media + Society, Communication Methods and Measures, and Social Science Computer Review.

Emily Van Duyn, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
@emilyvanduyn
Email:
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
3001 Lincoln Hall
702 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL, 61801
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2015-2019
Ph.D.
Communication Studies
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Dissertation (Defended July 2019):
Networked Silence: Political Dissent in a Digital Era
Advisor: Dr. Natalie (Talia) Jomini Stroud
Committee Members: Dr. Roderick Hart,
Dr. Sharon Jarvis, Dr. Wenhong Chen
2014-2015
M.Ed.
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
Simmons School of Education and Human Development Specialization in literacy (distinction)
2009-2013
B.A., Government
B.S., Communication Studies
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Government, College of Liberal Arts (High Honors)
Communication Studies, Moody College of Communication
(High Honors)
PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2020-Present
Assistant Professor
2019-2020
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Program on Democracy and the Internet
Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society
2015-2019
Graduate Research Associate
2017-2018
Teaching Assistant
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
Moody College of Communication
Department of Communication Studies
AWARDS AND HONORS
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TOP PAPER AWARD (2020)
National Communication Association, Political Communication Division -
LYNDA LEE KAID OUTSTANDING DISSERTATION AWARD (2020)
National Communication Association, Political Communication Division -
ARTICLE OF THE YEAR (2020)
Mass Communication and Society, AEJMC, Mass Communication and Society Division -
BEST STUDENT PAPER (2019)
American Political Science Association, Information Technology, and Politics Division -
BEST GRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD (2019)
Communication Studies Graduate Council -
TOP STUDENT PAPER (2018)
International Communication Association, Political Communication Division -
PATRICIA WITHERSPOON RESEARCH AWARD (2018)
The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life, Moody College of Communication -
BEST STUDENT POSTER (2017)
American Association for Public Opinion Research -
OUTSTANDING FIRST-YEAR PH.D. STUDENT (2016)
Department of Communication Studies, The University of Texas at Austin -
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN PRIZE (2013)
Best Honors Thesis, The University of Texas at Austin
RESEARCH

BOOK
Van Duyn, E. (2021). Democracy Lives in Darkness: How and Why People Keep Their Politics a Secret. Oxford University Press.
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Collier, J. & Van Duyn, E. (in press). A different kind of backfire: Effects of labeling false content on perceptions of news. Journal of Applied Communication Research.
Peacock, C., Van Duyn, E. (in press). Monitoring and correcting: Why women read and men comment online. Information, Communication, & Society.
Van Duyn, E. (2021). Mainstream marginalization: Secret political organizing and the role of
social media. Social Media + Society.
Van Duyn, E., & Muddiman, A. (2020). Predicting perceptions of incivility across 20 news comment sections. Journalism.
Stroud, N. J., & Van Duyn, E. (2020). Assessing the external validity of using news websites as
experimental stimuli. Communication Methods and Measures.
Van Duyn, E., Peacock, C., & Stroud, N. J. (2019). The gender gap in online news comment
sections. Social Science Computer Review.
Van Duyn, E., & Collier, J. (2019). Priming and fake news: The effects of elite discourse on
evaluations of news media. Mass Communication and Society, 22(1), 29-48.
Van Duyn, E. (2018). Hidden democracy: Political dissent in rural America. Journal of
Communication, 68(5), 965-987.
IN-PROGRESS ARTICLES
Stroud, N. J. & Van Duyn, E. (under review). Curbing the decline of local news by building audience relationships.
Van Duyn, E., Jennings, J., & Stroud, N. J. (under review). Selective exposure and journalist
identity: The effects of racial representation in the news.
Van Duyn, E. (in progress). Politics and partnerships: Navigating political conflict in cross-cutting romantic relationships.
Van Duyn, E., Raynal, I., & Shen, S. (in progress). Platforms and politics: Party communication and infrastructure in Illinois.
Van Duyn, E., & Muddiman, A. (in progress). Experienced versus expressed emotion: Self-disclosure about politics and COVID-19 on Facebook.
Van Duyn, E., & Collier, J. (in progress). The indifferent citizen: Appraisals of indifference in a deliberative context.
CONFERENCE PAPERS
Van Duyn, E., & Coles, S. (2022). Cross-cutting identities: The consequences of partisan identity ownership for political communication. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication Preconference.
Van Duyn, E., & Muddiman, A. (2022). Politics is personal: Self-disclosure about politics and COVID-19 on Facebook. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, Political Communication Division.
Van Duyn, E., Raynal, I., & Shen, S. (2021). Platforms and politics: Party communication and infrastructure in Illinois. Paper presented at the National Communication Association, Political Communication Division.
Van Duyn, E., & Muddiman, A. (2021). Experienced versus expressed emotion: Self-disclosure about politics and COVID-19 on Facebook. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association Political Communication Preconference, Seattle, WA.
Van Duyn, E. (2020). Mainstream marginalization: Secret political organizing in the digital space. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, Political Communication Division Virtual Conference.
Collier, J., & Van Duyn, E. (2020). A different kind of backfire: Effects of labeling false content on perceptions of news. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, Political Communication Virtual Conference.
Van Duyn, E. (2019). Poorly-sorted partisans: Secret political expression and organizing in the U.S. and Texas. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication Division, Washington D.C.
Collier, J., & Van Duyn, E. (2019). A different kind of backfire: Effects of labeling false content on perceptions of news. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication Preconference, Washington D.C.
Van Duyn, E., Peacock, C., & Stroud, N. J. (2019). The gender gap in online news comment sections. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, Political Communication Division, Washington D.C.
Van Duyn, E., & Collier, J. (2019). Incivility and indifference: Online deliberation and norms of opinion formation. Paper presented at the Southern Political Science Association, Media and Politics Division, Austin, TX.
Van Duyn, E., & Muddiman, A. (2018). Features, community, and perceptions of incivility. Paper presented at the National Communication Association, Mass Communication Division, Salt Lake City, UT.
Van Duyn, E. (2018). Pantsuit Nation and secret online organizing. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication and Information, Technology and Politics Divisions, Boston, MA.
Van Duyn, E., & Collier, J. (2018). The indifferent citizen: Appraisals of indifference in a deliberative context. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication Preconference, Boston, MA.
Van Duyn, E. (2018). Hidden voices of citizenship: The politics of dissent in rural Texas. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, Political Communication Division, Prague, Czech Republic. *Top Student Paper*
Van Duyn, E., Jennings, J., & Stroud, N. J. (2018). The effects of geographic and racial representation in the news. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, Political Communication Division, Prague, Czech Republic.
Stroud, N. J., & Van Duyn, E. (2017, November). Relative opinion climates, anonymity, and commenting on news. Paper presented at the National Communication Association, Political Communication Division, Dallas, TX.
Van Duyn, E. (2017, August). Hidden politics: Social media and the spiral of silence. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication Preconference, San Francisco, CA.
Van Duyn, E., & Collier, J. (2017, August). Priming and fake news: The effect of elite discourse on evaluations of news media. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication Preconference, San Francisco, CA.
Van Duyn, E. (2017, May). Extending the spiral of silence: Feedback effects on opinion expression. Poster presented at the American Association for Public Opinion Research, New Orleans, LA.
*Best Student Poster*
Stroud, N. J., Van Duyn, E., Peacock, C. (2016, August). Computer silence: Gender differences in online comment sections. Paper resented at the American Political Science Association, Political Communication Preconference, Philadelphia, PA.
TEACHING
TEACHING HISTORY
I began teaching when serving as a Teach for America corps member in East Dallas, where I taught reading and language arts. My classroom, self-titled "The Newsroom," emphasized how to evaluate information with a critical lens and the importance of media in shaping culture and our understanding of our world, our politics, and ourselves. During this time I also received my master's in education with an emphasis on literacy. I continued this focus on media and politics when returning to graduate school to study communication in 2015. I am dedicated to making the classroom a space where students can practice thinking critically, independently, and scientifically.
COURSES
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Social Media & Politics
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Communication & Public Opinion
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Digital Media Ethics
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Texas Media and Society Summer Fellows Course