Professor Kay Livesay

Professor Livesay explores the interpretation of emojis

Kay Livesay, associate professor of psychology at Linfield,  presented “Emojis mean what?” at a faculty lecture on McMinnville’s campus during the Spring 2019 semester. The Linfield faculty lecture series offers one presentation each month.

Created in Japan in the late 1990s, emojis have gained popularity in text communication. Emojis are often added to text messages to give additional information or emphasis. However, if the emoji is unknown, missed or misinterpreted, it can lead to confusion. Professor Livesay’s lecture examined our understanding of the meanings of emojis and how they change our understanding of the text communication.  

Livesay has been at Linfield since 2003. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from University of California, Los Angeles and a master’s degree and doctorate from the University of California, Riverside.