Viktoria Marinova

Viktoria Marinova is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the School of Media Arts & Studies and Director of Ohio University’s Social Media Certificate. With more than a decade of experience across industry and higher education, she brings a practitioner’s perspective to her teaching and believes strongly in connecting what students learn in the classroom with the realities of working in a constantly changing media landscape.

Born in Bulgaria and raised in South Africa, Viktoria began her career in journalism and later moved into marketing, videography, photography, social media, and project management. Before entering academia, she worked with clients and organizations on projects ranging from national marketing campaigns to developing their online presence, producing content, and telling their stories. After coming to the United States for graduate school, she continued working with nonprofit and community-based organizations, an area that remains particularly important to her today.

That professional background shapes much of what happens in Viktoria’s classroom. She is a strong believer in learning by doing and regularly brings real organizations into her courses as clients. In Advanced Social Media, for example, student teams spend the semester working directly with nonprofit and community partners, beginning with understanding the organization and its audiences and moving through analysis, planning, client feedback, content production, and a final strategy. She also leads the Social Media Storytelling Lab, where students create and manage content for the School of Media Arts & Studies. For Viktoria, these experiences are about more than completing an assignment. They give students space to experiment, solve problems, learn how to work with others, and graduate with work they can confidently include in their professional portfolios.

As Director of the Social Media Certificate, Viktoria leads an interdisciplinary program serving students from across Ohio University. She advises and mentors students, works with faculty and programs across the university, builds relationships with community and professional partners, and continually evaluates how the certificate can best prepare students for the field they will enter after graduation. Because social media changes so quickly, she sees the program as something that must evolve with it, incorporating new platforms, technologies, forms of storytelling, and professional practices while still teaching students to think critically about the people and communities behind the screen.

Viktoria is currently completing her Ph.D. in Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University. Her doctoral research explores how individuals move from encountering nonprofit content on social media to making an online donation. More broadly, she is interested in how people connect with and respond to stories in digital spaces, particularly questions surrounding authenticity, trust, giving, community, and the changing role of social media in everyday life. Her research complements her teaching and community work, all of which share an interest in how media can be used thoughtfully to connect people and communicate stories that matter.

Viktoria earned her Bachelor of Journalism from Rhodes University in South Africa before completing both an M.A. in Communication and Development Studies and a Master of Public Administration at Ohio University. Her international background and experience across industry, nonprofit work, and higher education continue to shape the perspective she brings to her students and colleagues.

Outside of the classroom, Viktoria is an avid gardener and home cook, loves traveling whenever she gets the chance, and is the proud mom of four very spoiled cats.

View Viktoria Marinova's Resume

Presentations and Awards

Selected Presentations & Professional Engagement

"Authenticity Before Algorithms: Community-Engaged Social Media Pedagogy in a Post-Truth Era." University Film and Video Association Conference, 2026.

Social Media Content Workshop. Community & Place-Based Engagement Symposium, 2026 (forthcoming).

Social Media Workshop. Adult Allies of Ohio, 2024.

Social Media Workshop. Kids on Campus, Ohio University, 2024.

Social Media Workshop. Ohio University Health Promotion Office, 2024.

Selected Awards & Recognition

Terri Temkin Prize for Commitment to Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership, 2022

Don Flournoy Dissertation Completion Fellowship, 2022

Outstanding Service Award, School of Media Arts & Studies, 2022 & 2023

Charles J. Ping International Leadership Award, 2019

First Place, Ohio University Student Expo, 2017 & 2023