Impactful Scholarship and Public Engagement
The Center for Communication and Civic Renewal (CCCR) is an interdisciplinary research center that aims to understand public opinion and the broad political communication ecology of Wisconsin and beyond through a wide range of social science methods, including ethnographic fieldwork, public opinion surveys, computational analysis of social media and news content, and contextual modeling.
Center Leadership and Support
CCCR is led by Faculty Director, Dr. Michael Wagner, and Research Director, Dr. Dhavan Shah, and is located in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Nathan Kalmoe serves as Executive Administrative Director for the Center.
The Center’s research efforts are funded by major grants from the Knight Foundation and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, among others.
Featured News
Drs. Wagner & Kalmoe publish survey results on 2024 RNC-DNC convention delegates
In December 2025, CCCR Faculty Director Michael Wagner and EAD Nathan Kalmoe reported results from a survey of several hundred voting delegates at the 2024 national party conventions.
Dr. Shah Wins Prestigious UW-Madison Award
CCCR Research Director Dhavan Shah has been awarded a WARF Named Professorship by the UW-Madison, which he designated as the Jack M. McLeod Professor of Communication Research.
CCCR hosts 2026 student voting panel
CCCR Faculty Director Michael Wagner led the March event with panelists Prof. Barry Burden, City Clerk Lydia McComas, & VOCES UW-Madison student leader Emily Gonzalez Rivera. Here are a few highlights:
Rivera: “It is so exciting to see students caring about affecting policy.”
McComas: “You can absolutely register to vote on Election Day. You can print an appropriate ID at Union South for free because your regular student ID does not meet all the state requirements to vote.”
Burden: “Voting is fun! And, there are enough students on campus, if they chose to vote in a block, to affect the results of many statewide races in Wisconsin.”