Maria Tsyruleva

Doctoral Advisor: Joon Soo Lim

Education:

B.A., Journalism, National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia)
M.A., Mass Communications with Concentration in Strategic Communication Management, University of South Florida (Tampa, FL)

Areas of Research: Communications, public relations in sports

Publications/Presentations:
Tsyruleva, M. (2022, March). Insanely good: A comparative content analysis of U.S. news coverage of mental health issues during the Olympic Games in London, Rio-de-Janeiro, and Tokyo. International Association for Communication and Sport. Glassboro, New Jersey

Tsyruleva, M., & Bell, T. R. (2021, August). “Golden Spike”: Examining Atlanta United's communication strategies and brand attributes from launch to kickoff. (Top Student/Faculty Paper). Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Sports Communication Interest Group, New Orleans, LA. (Presented virtually)

Bio:

Ph.D. student Maria Tsyruleva was born in the small city of Perevoz, Russia. She recalls becoming interested in sports very early on —as soon as she started wondering why her father and grandfather were yelling at the TV while watching soccer matches.

After receiving her bachelor's degree, Maria worked as a sportswriter and editor for leading Russian magazines, websites, and newspapers covering Olympic and Paralympic Games, soccer, and hockey. In the US, she served as a digital news editor for WUSF—the NPR member station in the Tampa Bay area. During her master's program at the University of South Florida, Maria studied sports fandom and public relations.

As a Ph.D. student, Maria continues her research on the intersection of communications and branding in the sports industry. She is also interested in athletes' activism and sports organizations' corporate social advocacy and how it affects public attitudes towards various social issues. In her research, Maria is inspired by the idea that, although sport is often perceived as simple entertainment, it reflects the conditions of society with tremendous accuracy, hence is vital to study.