Peter Bobkowski
Room 2071
Peter Bobkowski joined the KU faculty in 2011. He researches the developmental role of mediated information. His current work focuses on data and information literacy, that is, how young people learn about, access and evaluate data and information. He also has studied information sharing practices on social media.
Bobkowski is active in scholastic (high school) journalism research and service. He has examined civic engagement and gender differences among high school journalists. He has collaborated on two nationwide surveys of student publications.
Bobkowski teaches Infomania: Information Management, for which he co-wrote an open-access textbook, Be Credible: Information Literacy for Journalism, Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing Students.
Academic Degrees
- Ph.D. (2010) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- M.A. (2006) University of Houston
- B.A. (1999) University of Alberta
Awards
- David Adams Journalism Educator of the Year, Scholastic Journalism Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2019
- Friend of KSPA, Kansas Scholastic Press Association, 2019
- Keeler Professorship, University of Kansas, 2019
- Budig Professorship of Writing, William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, 2018
- Katich Award for Creativity in Teaching, 2016
- Pioneer Award, National Scholastic Press Association, 2015
- Promising Professor (Second Place), Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2014
- Gold Key, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, 2012
- Outstanding Graduating Ph.D. Student, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2010
Teaching Interests
- Information literacy
- Data literacy
- Reporting
- Research methods
- Mass communication theory
Research
Professor Bobkowski's research focuses on the developmental role of mediated information among adolescents and emerging adults. This includes data literacy, information literacy, and the relationship between student journalism and civic engagement. He also has conducted research on sharing information about politics and religion via social media.
Research Interests
- Youth and media
- Civic engagement
- Information and data literacy
- Social media
- Media and religion
- Scholastic media