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Christiana Varda

LECTURER AND COURSE LEADER OF BSC (HONS) MEDIA PRODUCTION


[email protected]

+357 2469 4027

Qualifications

PhD Communication and Internet Studies (Cyprus University of Technology, 2019 – present)

MA Interactive Multimedia (Cyprus University of Technology, 2016)

BA Journalism (Pennsylvania State University, 2005)

BA English (Pennsylvania State University, 2005)

 

Specialization

Learning Sciences: emotions, epistemic cognition, informal learning

Employment Track

Lecturer, UCLan Cyprus (Sept. 2022 – present)

Research Associate, Media, Cognition and Learning Research Group, Department of Communication and Internet Studies, Cyprus University of Technology (Jan. 2019 – present)

Founder, Media What, NGO (Feb. 2019 – present)

Special Teaching Staff, Department of Communication and Internet Studies, Cyprus University of Technology (Sept. 2021 – Dec. 2022)

Associate Lecturer, Web Design and Development, UCLan Cyprus (Sep. 2018 – Aug. 2020)

Research Associate, Cyprus Interaction Lab, Cyprus University of Technology (Sep. 2018 – Dec. 2018)

Media & Communications Coordinator, American Academy Larnaca (Sep. 2016 – Aug. 2018)

Media Studies Teacher, American Academy Larnaca (Sep. 2010 – Aug. 2018)

Academic Counsellor, American Academy Larnaca (Sep. 2009 – Aug. 2012)

 

Memberships (Academic/Professional)

  • International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
  • JURE European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)
  • American Educational Research Association (AERA)
  • International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)
  • Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
  • ACM-W, Cyprus Chapter

 

Research Interests

Christiana’s research focuses on understanding the role of emotions during the evaluation of online information on social media to derive implications for the design of learning environments that can support an engaged citizenry.

Research interests: Media Literacy, Epistemic Cognition, Emotions, Informal Learning, Information Evaluation, Misinformation, Social Media, Digital Journalism, Science Communication

Roles and Responsibilities (including past roles and responsibilities)

Teaching and Course Leadership 

  • Course Leader, BSc (Hons) Media Production
  • Current Module Leadership/Delivery: Introduction to Media Literacy, Introduction to Audiovisual Technologies, Film, Media, Television and Culture, Video Post-Production, Contextual Studies.
  • Past Module Leadership/Delivery: Multimedia Production, The Public Communication of Science and the Role of the Media, Introduction to the Information Society.

Administrative Roles
Representative of the school for the ERASMUS committee

Selective Publications 

  • Varda, C. & Kyza, E. A. (2023). Climate change encounters online: Epistemic engagement and emotions on social media. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2023. Poster presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS). Montreal, Canada.
  • Kyza, E. A. & Varda, C. (2023). What influences epistemic actions on social media? In Proceedings of the 17rh International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2023. Paper to be presented at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS). Montreal, Canada.
  • Varda, C. & Kyza, E. A. (2022, June 6-10). The role of epistemic emotions during engagement with online information encounters. In Chinn, , Chan, C., & Kali, Y. (Eds). Proceedings of the 16th International Conference for the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2022 International Collaboration toward Educational Innovation for All: Overarching Research, Development, and Practices. (pp. 735-142). Paper presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting of International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS). Hiroshima, Japan. [Online]. [ICLS Best Student Paper Nominee].
  • Kyza, E. A. & Varda, C., Konstantinou, L., Karapanos, E., Perfumi, S. C., Svahn, M. & Georgiou, Y. (2021, October). Social media use, trust and technology acceptance: Investigating the effectiveness of a co-created browser plugin in mitigating the spread of misinformation on social media. Paper presented at AoIR 2021: The 22nd Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers. Virtual Event: AoIR. Retrieved from http://spir.aoir.org.
  • Kyza, E. A., Varda, C., Panos, D., Karageorgiou, M., Komendantova, N., Perfumi, S. C., Shah, S., & Hosseini, A. S. (2020). Combating misinformation online: re-imagining social media for policy-making. Internet Policy Review9(4), 1-24.
  • Varda, C., & Ioannou, A. (2019, October). How Can Facebook Use in Education Be Realized as Crowdsourcing of Learning? An Exploration of Junior, Senior and Graduates Working Together. In Interactive Mobile Communication, Technologies and Learning(pp. 367-378). Springer, Cham.

Selective Conference and Seminar Presentations

  • Varda, C. & Kyza, E. A. (2023) “What can we do about it?” Emotions, actions and epistemic engagement with a controversial social media post. In J. Morinaj & J. Schlesier (Organizers). Invited Symposium for the JURE 2023 Conference SIG 8 &16: Motivation and Emotions in Uncertain Times [Symposium]. Presented at the 27th JURE Pre-conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI 2023), Thessaloniki, Greece.
  • Varda, C. & Kyza E. A. (2021, August 23-27). “Liking” social media posts with credibility labels: The role of epistemic aims and criteria. In F. Hendriks, M. Zimmerman, & E. Mayweg-Paus (Organizers),“Is this credible information?” Investigations on the Evaluation of Scientific Online Information [Symposium]. Presented at the 19th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI 2021) [Online].
  • Varda, C. & Kyza, E. A. (2021, April 8-12). Countering the spread of misinformation on informal social media networks: Media literacy implication Paper presented at the 2021 American Educational Research Association (AERA) [Online].
  • Kyza, E. A. & Varda, C. (2019, September). Navigating the post-truth era: trust, misinformation, and credibility assessment on online social media. Paper presented at the 20th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Brisbane, Australia.

Invited talks and workshops:

  • Varda, C., (2022, April). Engaging readers through live blogging [Workshop]. Digital Journalism Against Misinformation Workshop Series. Cyprus University of Technology.
  • Varda, C., (2022, March). Communicating science and the power of the crowd in digital journalism [Workshop]. Digital Journalism Against Misinformation Workshop Series. Cyprus University of Technology.
  • Varda, C., (2022, March). Let the data do the talking: Tools and good practices for data journalism [Workshop]. Digital Journalism Against Misinformation Workshop Series. Cyprus University of Technology.
  • Varda, C., (2022, February). Journalism in action: Developing competencies for mobile journalism [Workshop]. Digital Journalism Against Misinformation Workshop Series. Cyprus University of Technology.
  • Varda, C., (2022, February). Navigating data worlds: Instructional approaches to developing critical data literacy [Workshop]. Media Lit Conference 2022, Belgium.
  • Varda, C. & Papadema I. (2021, July). Το σενάριο της πραγματικότητας: Αφηγηματικές Προσεγγίσεις [A script for realism: Narrative Approaches] [Workshop]. 4th Cyprus Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Film Festival, Cyprus.
  • Varda, C., (2021, February). Η διαδικτυακή περσόνα της γυναίκας: Μια ματιά στις αναπαραστάσεις γυναικών στα κοινωνικά δίκτυα από γυναίκες φωτογράφους. [A woman’s online persona: A look at women’s representations on social media mediated through female photographers] [Talk]. Fotodos Gallery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMThJih9UPU
  • Varda, C. (2021, January). Σκέφτομαι καιμιλώ την γλώσσα των Media [Thinking and speaking in media language] [Presentation]. Film Literacy Conference: Cinema in Schools, Cyprus. https://youtu.be/GBLm6lAN1AY
  • Varda, C. (2020, February). Developing critical thinking through cross-generational storytelling [Workshop]. Media Lit Seminar 2021, Belgium.
  • Varda, C. (2019, March). Have Social Media Failed Us? [Video]. TEDx Larnaca, TED Conferences. https://youtu.be/jGooodrPR7I
  • Varda, C. (2018, December). Storytelling and branding [Workshop]. Tech Camp Cyprus: Digital Citizenship in the Disinformation Age, Cyprus.
  • Varda, C. (2018, October). “Το γυναικείο βλέμμα και η σημασία του στον κινηματογράφο” [The female gaze and its importance in cinema] [Video]. Larnaka Cinema Society. https://vimeo.com/308870749

Selective Research Funding/ Grant Capture

  • WIDERA 44: VERITY – Developing Scientific Research with Ethics and integrity for shared benefits, European Commission. UCLan Cyprus Lead. Researcher / Task Leader. (Coordinator: Trilateral Research Limited) 2022-2025
  • US Department of State’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund. Title: Journalists Resisting Disinformation through Science Communication Online. Co-Investigator / Researcher. Budget: $24,900 (September 2021- December 2021)
  • US Federal Assistance Grant. Title: Portraits of Women’s Empowered Representations (POWER). Principal investigator. Budget: $4,700 (September 20200 – September 2021)
  • World Learning, Alumni TIES. Title: Your Story: Developing Critical Thinking Through Cross-Generational Storytelling. Principal investigator. Budget: $3,390 (September 2019 – December 2019)
  • Tech Camp Cyprus. Title: Media Learn: A Media Literacy Lesson Plan Repository for Secondary School Teachers. Principal investigator. Budget: $4,000 (June 2019 -September 2019)
  • Association of Computing Machinery Council of Women in Computing (ACM-W). Principal investigator. Title: Women In Maker Cultures. Budget: $6,000 (September 2018 – May 2019)

Scholarships/Awards

  • Cyprus State Scholarship Foundation (2020 – present)
  • Schreyer Honors College, Pennsylvania State University (2002 – 2005)
  • Cyprus-America Scholarship Program (CASP): Full Scholarship for undergraduate studies (Fulbright Commission) (2002 – 2005)

Other Scholarly and Outreach Activities

  • JURE Coordinator, European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) Special Interest Group (SIG) 20: Inquiry Learning (August 2023 – present)
  • Organizing Committee, Joint EARLI SIG 20 and SIG 26 Conference. Berlin, Germany (2024)
  • Production Support, Cyprus Film Days for Children and Youth. (2018-present)
  • Scientific Committee, Conference of Communication Labs. Thessaloniki, Greece / Online. (2024)
  • Local Organizing Committee, Conference of Communication Labs. Limassol, Cyprus / Online. (2023).
  • Communications Officer, International Learning Sciences Student Association (June 2022 – 2023)
  • Associate Chair for Work In Progress (WIP), ACM Interaction design and Children (IDC) Conference, Online (June 2021)
  • Co-Chair, European Conference on Social Media, Pyla, Cyprus (July 2020)
  • Co-organizer:
    • Nurturing Digital Citizenship through Media Literacy, Online (September 2021)
    • Combating Misinformation Through Media Literacy Conference, Limassol, Cyprus (June 2019)
    • Media Lit Seminar 2020, Brussels, Belgium (February 2020)
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