Dr. Smeeta Mishra worked at the Institute for August 18, 2008 to June 5, 2010. After an MA in Political Science from JNU (1996), she obtained an MA in Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse, USA (2002) before completing a PhD from the College of Communication, University of Texas at Austin in 2006. Her dissertation was on "Islam and Democracy: An Analysis of Representations in the American Prestige Press from 1985-2005" Her research interests included International Communication, media coverage of the Middle East, gender and clothing and the role of digital technology in identity formations of diasporas. Prior to joining the institute, she worked as Assistant Professor, School of Communication Studies, Bowling Green State University, Ohio for about two years.