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Crystal Chokshi, PhD

Associate Professor, Public Relations
Assistant Chair, School of Communication Studies

 

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BIOGRAPHY

Crystal joined the School of Communication Studies at Mount Royal University in July 2022. She holds a BA (English) from the University of Ottawa, an MA (English) from Simon Fraser University, and a PhD (Communication and Media Studies) from the University of Calgary, where she was a SSHRC doctoral fellow and Killam scholar.

Her academic practice is layered on top of a 15-year career in strategic communication, which spanned the public, private, and voluntary sectors. She holds Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Canadian Public Relations Society.

As an instructor, Crystal’s goal is to help students develop a critical consciousness in their everyday work as communicators. She brings critical media studies into the study of public relations, emphasizing critical perspectives on technologies.

In 2026, Crystal published a co-edited collection titled The Need to Rename Tech (Palgrave Macmillan). The book explores words that fool us into thinking the digital technologies we use every day are beautiful, benign, and consequence-free.

Crystal currently serves as Assistant Chair in the School of Communication Studies. She also serves as Secretary for the Canadian Communication Association (2025-2028).