RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

Communication scholarship in our department is as varied as the discipline itself.

From the study of rhetoric and identity, the changing landscape of the media industry, collective memory and ritual, and public protest to performance and culture, transnational feminisms, post-coloniality and communication, organizing spaces of work and family, and conflict management, the Communication faculty approach research from critical, qualitative and quantitative perspectives and their scholarship takes the form of books, articles, films, and performances.

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Raka Shome

Raka Shome, PhD, professor and the Harron Family Endowed Chair in Communication at Villanova University, has received the 2020 Douglas W. Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award from the National Communication Association, the largest association for the study of communication. The award is given annually to honor scholars who have executed research programs in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism, and/or public address studies. 

Thomas Ksiazek

In a 24-hour news cycle with rapidly evolving technologies, there’s no denying the disruptions happening in the field of journalism—including those that user comments have had and continue to have on digital journalism. Thomas Ksiazek, PhD, associate professor of Communications in Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, explores this in his new book, User Comments and Moderation in Digital Journalism: Disruptive Engagement (Routledge, 2020).

  

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Liam McIntyre ’20 CLAS won the 2020 Award of Recognition in the Best Shorts Competition for his film, King of Quarantine.

Kalin Schultz ’19 CLAS presented two papers, “Missing Narratives: A Rhetorical Analysis of the #MeToo Movement” and “Can a Razor Re-make the Man? Kenneth Burke, Gillette, and the Defense of Toxic Masculinity” at the 2019 National Communication Association convention in Baltimore. She has been accepted to the MA/PhD program in the Department of Communication, University of Maryland.

 

Other Awards and Highlights

Evan Schares, PhD, won the dissertation of the year award from NCA's GLBTQ Communication Studies Division for his work, "An Archive of Pain: In Queer Suicide's Cultural Wake." The dissertation is a queer of color ideological critique of the white affective investments surrounding a number of recent queer suicides or suicide attempts.
 
Melissa Meade, PhD, received the 2020 Constance Coiner Dissertation Award from the Working-Class Studies Association for her dissertation, "In the Shadow of 'King Coal:' Memory, Media, Identity, and Culture in the PostIndustrial Pennsylvania Anthracite Region." The recognition praised the dissertation "provides insightful and engaging depictions of working-class life, culture, and movements, which addresses issues related to the working class, and which highlights the voices, experiences, and perspectives of working-class people." She also received the 2020 Best Dissertation Award from the National Communication Association Ethnography Division. The reviewers noted that the writing is "fantastic" and offers a "rich and compelling telling of the small-town experience" of its residents in an evocative narrative.
 
Meet our faculty and read more about their awards, publications and accolades.

Chair

Tom Ksiazek, PhD

Professor

610-519-8944

Undergraduate Program Coordinator

Laura Capriotti

Garey Hall, Room 28

610-519-7488

Administrative Assistant 

Loretta Chiaverini

Garey Hall, Room 28

610-519-4750

Administrative Assistant, Graduate Program

Kelly Doyle

Garey Hall, Room 28

610-519-6434