The Center for Mobile Communication Studies is the world’s first academic unit to focus solely on social aspects of mobile communication. Established in June 2004 at Rutgers University’s School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (SCILS), the Center has become an international focal point for research, teaching and service on the social, psychological and organizational consequences of the burgeoning mobile communication revolution.
Center staff conducts leading-edge investigations into how mobile communication is affecting human behavior as well as mobile technology’s long-term organizational and policy implications. The Center helps develop innovative courses to enhance student understanding of mobile communication. Its activities deepen the Communication Department’s core focus on mediated communication in undergraduate and graduate coursework and outreach.
The Center provides critical commentary and advice for public and non-profit groups and assists private sector organizations through research, information
dissemination, and expert consultation. The Center hosts visiting scholars and conducts international workshops. Linkages are encouraged with area scholars and organizations that share research interests.
James E. Katz, Ph.D., is chair of the Department of Communication at Rutgers University where he also directs the Center for Mobile Communication Studies. His present focus is on how personal communication technologies, such as mobile phones and the Internet, affect social relationships and how cultural values influence usage patterns of these technologies. Currently he heads an NSF-sponsored project with the New Jersey Liberty Science Center museum to investigate ways to stimulate teens from urban environments to use mobile communication technology for informal science and health learning.
Professor Katz has devoted his career to exploring the relationship among the domains of science and technology, knowledge and information, and social processes and public policy. He has been granted two patents and has won several awards including the 2009 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Twentieth Century Communications History, which will take him to Italy, as well as Bellcore’s Distinguished Member of Staff Award, a Mellon Foundation Scholar award, and the Distinguished Scholar Award of the Society for the Social Study of Mobile Communication. He has won post-doctoral fellowships at Harvard and MIT. Katz is also the author of more than 50 refereed journal articles. His books, which include Magic in the Air: Mobile Communication and the Transformation of Social Life and Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, Expression, have been translated into Chinese, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. His latest volume, published by MIT Press, is Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies.
At earlier stages of his career, Professor Katz headed the social science research unit at Bell Communications Research and was on the faculties of the University of Texas, Austin and Clarkson University. He has served as the chair of the Austin World Affairs Council and is currently the Vice President of NJ GASP. In terms of public outreach, Katz is frequently interviewed about his research by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and has appeared many times on network evening news programs and PBS NewsHour. He also serves on the boards of several organizations and professional journals.
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