Communication Commons^™

Demonstrating Collegiality: A Co-Constructed Narrative Inquiry, Elizabeth A. Curry, Deborah Cunningham Walker

Elizabeth Curry

“Demonstrating Collegiality: A Co-Constructed Narrative Inquiry” seeks to define a collegial relationship through the experiences of two first year doctoral students at a large state-supported university. The techniques used to develop the co-constructed narrative parallel the authors’ development of a collaborative relationship. Using autoethnographic essays and interactive interviews, the authors co-construct several narratives that describe the process of moving from a friendly, social relationship to a scholarly, collaborative relationship, as well as the process of moving from peer reviewers to co-authors. An introductory narrative frames the paper; each of the “interior” narratives is accompanied by an extensive analytic introduction and …

Narratives Of Workers On The Crisis Line: Dialogic Conversations About Domestic Violence, Elizabeth A. Curry

Elizabeth Curry

This paper is my exploratory study of the interpersonal communication between domestic violence workers who answer crisis calls and the callers who seek help. I am focusing on the perception of those who answer the crisis lines. This is part of my on-going research into the meaning and experiences of the women who work against domestic violence. There are approximately 1,900 local domestic violence programs and state coalitions in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This paper is based on the experiences of women working in one local program, CASA. I will briefly compare the CASA advocates …

Voices Of Engaged Scholarship: Relationships & Research In University-Community Project, Elizabeth A. Curry

Elizabeth Curry

This paper is about engaged scholarship and a university-community initiative as an example of research collaboration. It addresses the negative perceptions community activists hold concerning researchers, the development of the research relationship with the community organization and the reactions of academic researchers within the research team. The paper covers the first four months of developing a partnership between the University of South Florida (www.usf.edu) and an organization that works against domestic violence, CASA (www.casa-stpete.org). Using narratives, I explore issues such as incentives and barriers for the community agency to collaborate with the university and for university faculty to pursue a …

Narrative As Communication Activism: Research Relationships In Social Justice Projects, Elizabeth A. Curry, Deborah Cunningham Walker

Elizabeth Curry

When they talk about CASA or the project, Deb and Elizabeth use the words “we, our, or us,” not “them or they.” Deb and Elizabeth are part of CASA because they understand us. They get it. Lots of people study domestic violence, but they were the first researchers interested in us, the workers. We felt validated because university researchers thought what we did was important, and they asked us to help them understand our work. They didn’t lecture us; they listened to us. These are some of the staff’s observations about our participation in the University Community Initiative Project (UCI), …

I Yelled At My Mother: Narrative Introspection Into The Multifaceted Emotions Of Sympathy & Compassion In Care-Giving, Elizabeth A. Curry

Elizabeth Curry

Sympathy, empathy and compassion have been widely studied in many different disciplines but there has been little agreement among researchers. Studies often address the process of giving sympathy but little has been done with the process of receiving sympathy or the complex intersection of the two. This paper is an autoethnography that explores the relational way we develop an understanding of sympathy and compassion. I use an introspective process to study how I have come to understand compassion and sympathy in care giving for my mother. I seek a different approach to compassion and sympathy as a social process of …

Using Communication And Culture To Prevent Crisis: A Literature Review, Jennifer Palm

Jennifer Palm

Lifestyle Drugs And The Neoliberal Family, Kristin Swenson

Kristin Swenson

Since 1997, advertisements for lifestyle drugs have saturated the U.S. airwaves, print media, and the Internet. Viewers are asked to see their children’s difficulty in school as attention deficit disorder, their worry as anxiety, and their flagging sex life as dysfunction. And for each disorder, there is a corresponding pharmaceutical solution. Through the lens of these advertisements, Lifestyle Drugs and the Neoliberal Family unpacks our contemporary obsession with obtaining easy solutions for difficult problems. The ads’ discourse illuminates the experience of living within a society increasingly affected by the policies of neoliberalism, one that requires us to invest and manage …

Vitamin D An Examination Of Physician And Patient Management Of Health And Uncertainty, Keisa Bennett, Brandi Frisby, Laura Young, Deborah Murray

Laura Young

Vitamin D has been a topic of much research interest and controversy, and evidence is mixed concerning its preventive effects and health benefits. The purpose of our study was to explore the decision-making strategies used by both primary care providers and community members surrounding vitamin D in relation to uncertainty management theory. We conducted semistructured interviews with primary care providers (n = 7) and focus groups with community members (n = 89), and transcribed and coded using the constant comparative method. Themes for providers included awareness, uncertainty, patient role, responsibility, skepticism, uncertainty management, and evolving perceptions. Community member …

Crisis Communication, Learning And Responding: Best Practices In Social Media, Xialing Lin, Patric R. Spence, Timothy L. Sellnow, Kenneth Lachlan

Patric R. Spence