Here is a short listing of some of the featured experts in various areas of communication. To request additional experts, or find experts in other areas of communication, please contact the communications office.
Contact the Communications Office
Mark Fernando
Senior Manager, Communications
202-534-1105 (mobile) 202-657-8623
Jennifer Glicoes
Specialist, Communications
African American Communication and Culture
Erika Molloseau Pryor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Denison UniversityPryor completed her undergraduate work at Western Michigan University and received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, August 2008. Her primary areas of research investigates the ways in which African Americans are represented within popular media; the ways African Americans and dominant audiences talk about the representations of African Americans; as well as cultural phenomenon and artifacts intended for African American and dominant audiences. Pryor also considers cultural phenomenon related to the intersections of race, gender, and citizenship performance, experiences, and enactments.
Jannette L. Dates, Ph.D., Dean, Howard UniversityJannette L. Dates is the Dean of the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University, where she served as a faculty member in the Department of Radio, Television and Film and Associate Dean before becoming Dean. Dates has been a frequent speaker and panelist on national television and radio programs where she discussed images of African Americans in the mass media. She has appeared on “Both Sides with Jesse Jackson,” “Booknotes with Brian Lamb” on CSPAN,” “All Things Considered” on NPR, “Close Up” on NPR, “Our Visions” on BET, and “On the Media” on NPR, among others. Prior to her career at Howard, Dates served as anchor and executive producer of a weekly television magazine for the Baltimore, Maryland, NBC affiliate, WBAL-TV, and as executive producer and host for a distance learning television series for Morgan State College students studying African American history and culture. She served as a panelist on a weekly public affairs television series for the Baltimore, Maryland, ABC affiliate, WJZ-TV, in a weekly series entitled “Square Off,” and as the co-anchor of the weekly television series “North Star” for the NBC affiliate in Baltimore, WBAL-TV. In the 1990’s Dates served as a Fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University where her research focused on media images and effects, media treatment of African Americans and similar multicultural groups and women. Dates co-edited the book, Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media, authoring six of the ten chapters. She has written chapters for numerous other books, authored seventeen peer-reviewed articles and many general publication articles. Dates is featured in the March 2007 edition of the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media as one of the nation’s communication research pioneers. Her recent research includes service as guest editor of the Summer 2005 edition of the Journal of Popular Film & Television that focused on “African Americans in Film & Television: Twentieth Century Lessons for a New Millennium.”
Davis Houck, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Florida State UniversityDavis Houck received his Ph.D. in Speech Communication from the Pennsylvania State University. As an All-American intercollegiate athlete, Houck brings to the issueof race a unique blend of the academic, the personal and the athletic. His scholarship has garnered some of the highest prizes in the communication field, and one of his books was submitted for thePultizer Prize in History. His recent work in recovering the many diverse voices of the movement has taken him to dozens of archives around the country, and he's consulted with more than one hundred archivists in hisefforts to fill out a broader history of the movement and its participants. In addition, his work on the media, race and sport has been anthologized and is being taught in classrooms around the country.
Health Communication
Jennifer B. Gray, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Appalachian State UniversityJennifer B. Gray, Ph.D., is a communication teacher and researcher, currently an assistant professor at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Her teaching and research expertise includes several areas of health communication, or communication in the context of health, including how health issues are presented in entertainment programming and news, how patients and healthcare providers communicate, as well as how to improve the way messages about health are designed. Gray currently teaches courses in health communication and research methods and has taught courses in interpersonal communication, public speaking, and college-level writing. Prior to, and then during, her graduate studies, Gray was a medical public relations professional at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, KY, and a medical editor with Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA, and the American Board of Family Medicine in Lexington, KY.
Austin S. Babrow, Ph.D., Professor, Ohio UniversityProfessor Babrow teaches, conducts research, and writes in the areas of health, interpersonal, and mass communication; persuasion; and research methods. He has conducted and advised health communication research in the areas of pregnancy and childbirth, HIV/AIDS prevention, smoking cessation, patient-provider relationships, breast cancer, information seeking, explaining illness, aging, advance care planning and communication at the end of life, and the role of spirituality in human suffering. In the area of public health and safety, he has done work on media coverage of bioterrorism and the social construction of various risks. He has also been involved in persuasion research on issues such as the use of teasing as a means of influence, the bases of reasoned action, and the effects of various forms of argument (such as metaphor, statistical and narrative evidence). He has written extensively about communication theory and research methods, and is known in particular for developing Problematic Integration theory, which focuses on communication in particularly challenging situations, such as those involving significant uncertainty, ambivalence, and/or impossible desires.
Linda Godbold Kean, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Acting Director, East Carolina UniversityLinda Kean is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at East Carolina University. Kean also has an adjunct appointment in the Department of Public Health in the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. Kean’s main area of research is health communication with a focus on the mass media. One facet of her research is designing and evaluating mass media campaigns that promote the adoption of positive health behaviors. Kean is interested in what types of audiences respond to particular messages and how we can be most effective in disseminating effective health messages and encouraging healthy behaviors. Kean has investigated campaign effectiveness in the areas of smoking, adolescent alcohol use and AIDS public service announcements. Kean is also interested in how advertising and entertainment media messages influence individual’s perceptions, attitudes and behaviors regarding health topics. A recent publication, Kean, L.G. and Prividera, L.C. (2007) “Communicating about race and health: A content analysis of print advertisements in African American and general readership magazines,” published in Health Communication, looks at the messages in print advertisements regarding food and weight loss products aimed at African American and more general audiences. Kean is also conducting research investigating the link between exposure to media and individual’s decision making regarding food consumption and physical activity.
Communication and Listening
Graham Bodie, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Louisiana State UniversityGraham Bodie is a leading researcher in listening as communication and has published extensively in the International Journal of Listening. His primary research interests include how individual predispositions influence the listening process and listening-related outcomes. Currently he is working toward a general theory of the listening process as it plays out in conversation between two individuals, especially in conversations that involve the provision and receipt of social support. His work draws on research from psychology, linguistics, communication, and discourse studies. Graham is also active in developing scales to measure listening in its many varieties. Graham has been active in the International Listening Association since 2001. He currently is serving on the Nominating Committee and has served as Chair of the ILA’s Research Committee and as Member-at-Large Special Projects. He received his PhD in 2008 from the Department of Communication at Purdue University. His dissertation research focused on the varied ways people listen to messages intended to make them feel better during times of stress.
Family and Interpersonal Communication
Paul Schrodt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Texas Christian University
Paul Schrodt specializes in interpersonal communication, family communication, and instructional communication. His primary research interests include studying the communicative cognitions and behaviors that facilitate family relationships, with a particular interest in the message strategies and behaviors that facilitate stepfamily functioning. Schrodt is an active member of the National Communication Association (NCA), the Central States Communication Association (CSCA), and the International Association for Relationship Research, and he currently serves on the editorial boards of Communication Monographs, Communication Education, Journal of Family Communication, and Communication Reports. In addition to several Top Paper awards, Schrodt was awarded the inaugural, 2005 Sandra Petronio Dissertation Award from the Family Communication Division of the NCA, as well as the 2006 Outstanding New Teacher Award from the CSCA. Along with several book chapters, Schrodt has published more than 30 articles in several leading journals, including Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, and Communication Education, among others.
Freedom of Speech Issues
Donald Fishman, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Boston College
Donald Fishman specializes in Freedom of Expression and Intellectual Property. He has taught at Northwestern University and Boston College. He is the author of over 40 articles in the field of communication. He is the recipient of the 1998 Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression and 2001 Phifer Award for outstanding Scholarship in Parliamentary Procedure. He is the past president of the Faculty Senate at Boston College and past president of the Eastern Communication Association. He was chairman of the Department of Communication at Boston College for nine years.
Interpersonal Communication
Jennifer A. Samp, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator, University of GeorgiaJennifer A. Samp (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1999) is Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia. Her programmatic research on conflict and problematic discussions in close relational contexts centrally locates her within scholarship on interpersonal communication. Broadly construed, her research focuses on how communicators’ thoughts about themselves and their relationships influence what they say during conversations with close friends and romantic partners. Additionally, some of her current work examines how couples manage challenges to commitment, intimacy, and relational satisfaction. Her research has been acknowledged by several top paper awards at national conventions and publications in a variety of journals within the communication discipline. Samp teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses on interpersonal communication, personal relationships, conflict, communication theory, and quantitative research methods.
Elizabeth Ribarsky, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Springfield Elizabeth Ribarsky is a professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield who teaches courses in interpersonal communication. Ribarsky has an active line of research in which she examines how people construct their individual and relational identities. Specifically, she has conducted numerous studies examining recent changes in dating behaviors and dating communication, such as speed dating, dating through the Internet, the increased prevalence of long-distance relationships, and reality-dating television’s portrayal of dating and how reality-dating television influence on how women construct what it means to date in the 21st century. Ribarsky argues that because research has shown that people still desire traditional dating behaviors reminiscent of the 1950s but engage in dating behaviors that violate these expectations, there is an increased sense of ambiguity surrounding dating and the process of relational escalation. Thus, she contends that researchers must continue to explore how people make sense of these recent changes in and ambiguity surrounding dating behaviors and communication.
Janet K. (Jess) Alberts, Ph.D., President’s Professor, Arizona State UniversityJess Alberts is President’s Professor and faculty member in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Currently she serves as Director of the Conflict Transformation Project and Associate Director for Research Development at the Institute for Social Science Research. Alberts’ research focuses on romantic relationships as well as conflict in personal and professional relationships. She has studied flirting, relational maintenance through daily interaction, humor and teasing. Her current work examines marital conflict and the division of domestic labor, married couples’ conflict and daily interaction, workplace bullying, community mediation, and work/life conflict. She is a popular speaker and has provided keynote addresses, presentations and workshops for the (national) Association for Conflict Resolution; the Arizona Association for Conflict Resolution; the Arizona Labor Employment Relations Association, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (forthcoming), as well as the Phoenix Zoo; the Internal Revenue Service, Arizona; the University of California, San Diego; Argosy University, the University of Phoenix and the Self Sufficiency Participant Conference, among other organizations and corporations. She was named the Jeanne Lynd Herberger Professor in 2007. She was selected by the undergraduate association for the Last Lecture Series Award, by the graduate student association for a Mentor Appreciation Award, and by Commission on the Status of Women for the Outstanding Achievement and Contributions Award. She also received special recognition by the ASU Parents’ Association for her contributions to undergraduate teaching in 2008.
Norah Dunbar, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Communication, University of OklahomaNorah Dunbar has a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Arizona (2000), an M.A. from California State University Chico, and a B.A. from the University of Nevada Reno. Professor Dunbar's research interests include interpersonal deception and nonverbal expressions of power and dominance in interpersonal relationships. Methodologically, she uses behavioral observation techniques to examine verbal and nonverbal communication displays. Her recent publications include articles in Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journal of Family Communication, and Communication Reports. She has also written chapters on nonverbal dominance and influence in The Persuasion Handbook, Beyond Words: A Sourcebook of Methods for Measuring Nonverbal Cues, and The Sage Handbook of Nonverbal Communication. Currently, Professor Dunbar is working on several projects including a study on the nonverbal expressions of dominance in work relationships and a study on the detection of deception in relationships of unequal status. She teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in Interpersonal Communication, Nonverbal Communication, Deception, and Communication Theory.
Mass Communication
Michael D. Murray, Ph.D. ,University of Missouri Board of Curators’ Distinguished Professor in Media Studies, University of Missouri-St. LouisMichael D. Murray (Ph.D. University of Missouri, Columbia) teaches and writes about the history of broadcast news. He is the editor-in-chief of “The Encyclopedia of Television News,” the author of “The Political Performers: CBS Broadcasts in the Public Interest” and also the college textbook, “Media Law and Ethics,” with Roy L. Moore. He also published “Television in America” with Don Godfrey and “Indelible Images: Women in TV News” with Mary Beadle. And he also edited two books on mass media education: “Teaching Mass Communication” with Anthony J. Ferri and “Mass Communication Education” with Roy L. Moore. He recently served as the review and criticism editor of the “Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media.”
Political Communication
Craig Smith, Ph.D., Professor, California State University, Long Beach
Craig R. Smith was a full-time speechwriter for President Gerald Ford and a consulting writer for George H. W. Bush. He has served as consultant to CBS News for convention, election night and inaugural coverage. He has written 14 books and over 50 book chapters and scholarly articles. He received his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. He has taught at San Diego State University, the University of Virginia, the University of Alabama, Birmingham and for the last 20 years at California State University, Long Beach.
Kelly McDonald, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Kelly McDonald is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Arizona State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas and is co-author of the forthcoming book: THE THIRD AGENDA IN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES: Debate Watch and Viewer Reactions, 1996–2004. He served as Director for ASU’s national award winning speech and debate team and has served as a media analyst for television, print and radio on presidential debates, campaigns and political communication for over a decade. He helped lead the research team that directed the DebateWatch voter education initiative, funded through a Ford Foundation Grant. He is active in the Consortium for Strategic Communication, an initiative focused on national security and terrorism-related questions from a message-based perspective.
Sports and Communication
Paul Turman, Ph.D., Director of Academic Assessment, South Dakota Board of Regents
Paul D. Turman (Ph.D. University of Nebraska, Lincoln 2000) is the Director of Academic Assessment with the South Dakota Board of Regents. Prior to his work with the Board he held an assistant/associate professor position at the University of Northern Iowa where he had been recognized for excellence in teaching at the institutional, state and regional level. His research interests focus on the examination of communication and sport across a variety of coaching and family context and has been published in journals such as the Journal of Applied Communication Research, Communication Education, Small Group Research, Journal of Sport Behavior, and Communication Research Reports.
