Clarifying Conversations: Race and Identity

REPRESENTATIONS OF RACE AND IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CULTURE

Responding to ongoing public discussions about race and identity, this panel is an interactive dialogue about how race and identity are represented, articulated, constituted, and enacted in various ways in American culture, from political discussions to popular culture, in the news media and among citizens in everyday conversation.

Richard West’s NCA Presidential Initiative
A Public Program of the National Communication Association
Held at Emerson College

Important questions to be addressed include:
* How do we talk about race and identity?
* What are the consequences and effects of how we communicate about race and identity?
* How do our interactions about race and identity include and embrace, exclude and oppress?
* How can we clarify, through conversation, our public understanding and enactment of race and identity in the American context?

Thursday, March 20, 2014
7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
BILL BORDY THEATER
216 Tremont Street, First Floor
Emerson College, Boston, MA 02116

MODERATOR
HARVEY YOUNG, Department of Theatre at Northwestern University
An award-winning author and an internationally recognized authority on African-American culture and performing arts, Professor Young is the author of Embodying Black Experience and Theatre & Race, and co-editor of Performance in the Borderlands and Reimagining A Raisin in the Sun: Four New Plays.

PANELISTS

ANNE DEMO, Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University
Professor Demo’s work explores the relationships between visual/digital rhetoric and U.S. cultural politics. She is the co-editor of Rhetoric, Remembrance, and Visual Form: Sighting Memory.

KIMBERLY McLARIN, Department of Writing, Literature & Publishing at Emerson College
Appearing regularly on the Emmy Award-winning show Basic Black, Boston’s long-running television program devoted to African-American themes, Professor McLarin is the author of four books, including Jump at the Sun, which was chosen as a 2007 Fiction Honor Book by both the Massachusetts Center for the Book and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Her new memoir, Divorce Dog, was published last year.

TOM NAKAYAMA, Department of Communication Studies at Northeastern University
Professor Nakayama studies intercultural communication and whiteness. A former editor of the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, he is a co-editor of the Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication.

JEFF SCHAFFER, Executive Producer, The League
Mr. Schaffer is a producer, writer, and director for television and film. His writing credits include episodes of the television programs Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm and the films Bruno and The Dictator. He is also the creator, writer, and director of The League and writer and director of the 2004 film EuroTrip.

ANGHARAD N. VALDIVIA, Media and Cinema Studies at the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In examinations of media studies and contemporary mainstream popular culture, Professor Valdivia combines the areas of gender studies with ethnic studies and transnational studies. She is the managing editor of the International Encyclopedia of Media Studies.

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Jane Jacobs Urban Communication Book Award

The Jane Jacobs Urban Communication Book Award recognizes an outstanding book that exhibits excellence in addressing issues of urban communication. It is given out every year by the Urban Communication Foundation and is named in honor of the late social activist and author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The award brings with it a $500 prize.

To nominate a book, please send a short letter of nomination or self-nomination (in the form of an email attachment) to Steve Macek, chair of the Jane Jacobs Book Award review committee, at the email address below by August 15, 2014. The letter of nomination should describe the book and explain how it addresses issues central to the field of urban communication. Nominees for this year’s award must be published between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2014.  Finalists (or their publishers) will be asked to send three copies of the book to the award committee. For more information on the field of urban communication, and to determine if your nomination fits the award call, please review our  mission statement and look at the list of past Jane Jacobs winners.

Dr. Steve Macek
Associate Professor of Communication
Coordinator of Urban & Suburban Studies
North Central College Naperville, IL 60540

COMM 365: NCA is 100 years old

COMM 365: Celebrating 100 years of communication research

In honor of the National Communication Association‘s Centennial, COMM 365, a project celebrating 100 years of communication research, begins this week. Five times per week brief, accessible write-ups of impactful concepts, theories, and research findings from our discipline will appear. The entries began on January 13, 2014 and run throughout the year.

The daily entries were created by NCA interest groups and represent the breadth of our discipline. Entries on topics related to intercultural communication were posted between January 27 and February 4.

The entries will be interesting for NCA members to read and can serve as a resource for undergraduate students enrolled in basic theory and research methods courses. For example, instructors may assign students to review the findings, which will be posted daily and neatly archived by topic, to generate research ideas for papers or extra credit projects. The entries have been written and edited in such a way as to be useful to teachers in secondary educational settings who have an interest in drawing from the discipline for class instruction or related activities.

COMM 365 is Chaired by Zac Gershberg of California State University Stanislaus and sponsored by the Centennial Committee.

The National Communication Association (NCA) is one of the member organizations of the Council of Communication Associations, the parent organization of CID.

Qin Zhang Profile

ProfilesQin Zhang (Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 2005) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Fairfield University, USA.

Qin Zhang

Her research interests span across intercultural, instructional, and interpersonal communication. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Communication Education, Communication Quarterly, Western Journal of Communication, Communication Research Reports, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, Business Communication Quarterly, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, China Media Research, Ohio Communication Journal, Journal of International Communication, Pennsylvania Communication Annual, Texas Speech Communication Journal, and Human Communication. She also has articles in press in Human Communication Research and International Journal of Communication. She has won the Outstanding Article of the Year (2009) Award in Business Communication Quarterly, as well as several top paper awards or top-four paper awards in intercultural communication, instructional communication, and organizational communication at ECA or NCA. She serves on the editorial board of Communication Education, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, and Communication Teacher. She was the 2012-2013 President of the Association for Chinese Communication Scholars (ACCS) affiliated with the NCA.

Selected Publications

Zhang, Q., Ting-Toomey, S., & Oetzel, J. G. (in press). Linking emotion to the conflict face-negotiation theory: A U.S.-China investigation of the mediating effects of anger, compassion, and guilt in interpersonal conflict. Human Communication Research.

Zhang, Q., Andreychik, M., Sapp, D. A., & Arendt, C. (in press). The dynamic interplay of interaction goals, emotion, and conflict styles: Testing a model of intrapersonal and interpersonal effects on conflict styles. International Journal of Communication.

Zhang, Q. (in press). A U.S.-China investigation of the effects of perceived partner conflict styles on outcome satisfaction: The mediating role of perceived partner conflict competence. Communication Quarterly.

Zhang, Q. (in press). Emotion matters in serial arguments: The effects of anger and compassion on perceived resolvability and relationship confidence. Communication Research Reports.

Zhang, Q. (2014). Assessing the effects of instructor enthusiasm on classroom engagement, learning goal orientation, and academic self-efficacy. Communication Teacher, 28, 44-56.

Zhang, Q., & Zhang, J. (2013). Instructors’ positive emotions: Effects on student engagement and critical thinking in U.S. and Chinese classrooms. Communication Education, 62, 395-411.

Zhang, Q. (2010). Asian Americans beyond the model minority stereotype: The nerdy and the left out. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 3, 20-37.

Zhang, Q. (2009). Perceived teacher credibility and student learning: Development of a multi-cultural model. Western Journal of Communication, 73, 326-347.

Zhang, Q. (2007). Teacher misbehaviors as learning demotivators in college classrooms: A cross-cultural investigation in China, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Communication Education, 56, 209-227.

Postdoc in Media @ Macquarie U (Sydney)

Postdoctoral Fellow in Media
Macquarie University, Sydney

Macquarie University is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to be attached to Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley’s ARC Future Fellowship project, Switched-On Audiences: Australian Listeners and Viewers.

In this role you will be asked to:
Work on a research project about an aspect of Australian newspaper, magazine, radio or television reception history since 1930;
Play an active role in the Centre for Media History’s activities;
Produce excellent research in line with the research strengths of the Faculty and Department including publishing in peer reviewed journals and applying for research grants;
Engage with external stakeholders, the media and the public to disseminate your research.

Selection Criteria
To be considered for this position, applicants must address the selection criteria below and then upload the response as a separate document during the online application process.

Essential
A submitted PhD in media history, Australian history, communications and media, or a related field.
An excellent research and publication track record relative to opportunity.

Salary Package:
Academic Level A salary AUD $62,526 – $84,193 p.a. plus 17% employer’s superannuation and annual leave loading.

Appointment Type:
Full-time, 2-year fixed term contract position.

Specific Role Enquiries:
Specific enquiries related to this position should be directed to Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley.

Intending applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss the position with Professor Griffen-Foley before applying.

Applications Close:

Feeling felt: The heart of the dialogic moment?

Guest PostsFeeling felt: The heart of the dialogic moment? by Robyn Penman

In Maria Flora Mangano’s post on A space of relationship for dialogue among cultures she describes how a student was able to talk about his personal experience during the genocide in Burundi because of the space of the relationship that was created for class members to speak without any fear of offence. The experience within this space of relationship was so profound that by time the student finished talking, the class was so “touched they couldn’t speak”.

As I read Maria Flora’s post I was struck by the way the experience was described metaphorically in terms of physical contact: the students were “touched”, the speaker “felt” understood. I know this is a common way of talking about poignant moments in dialogue and other “close” encounters. However, my recent foray into the interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB) research literature has made me more alert to such metaphors and given me reason to draw attention to it here.

Extensive research evidence across the neuroscience field indicates that relationships are crucial to brain development and neural functioning throughout the life cycle. We are, to use Mona Fishbane’s phase, “wired to connect”. The fact that our relationships, and presumably the quality of them, can impact on brain development is, in itself, something to take note of. However, IPNB has taken this broad notion further and fleshed out a number of ideas about how these connections work and what their impact may be. One of these ideas concerns the sense of “feeling felt”.

Daniel Siegel, who coined the term interpersonal neurobiology, uses the concept of “feeling felt” to describe the ability of one person to empathically and authentically encounter another person; especially in the early parent-infant relationship.  According to Siegel, “feeling felt” is characteristic of secure infant-parent relationships: the more infants “feel felt”, the better their attachment and the sounder their development pathway.

While there is still some controversy about the specific role played by neural mechanisms in the ability to be empathic, the concept of feeling felt and its role in childhood development has a great deal of merit. The concept of feeling felt also seems to have merit when we come to adult relationships, and to dialogue specifically.

When I was reading descriptions of the “feeling felt” phenomenon I was struck by the extent to which it resonated with Martin Buber’s sense of “being”. In his discussions of dialogue, Buber made a distinction between “being” and “seeming” in an encounter with another. For Buber, the being person is acting authentically into the encounter and, in acting thus, makes dialogue possible. The moment when two people fully experience each other as “being” in the relationship signifies a dialogic moment. In exactly the same vein we could say that dialogue has occurred when each person feels felt by the other.

The interpersonal neurobiology literature would suggest that this striving to feel felt is part of our neurological make-up. We strive for connection, and we yearn to feel felt from infancy onwards. But, equally important, the existence of this neurophysiological dimension would also suggest that “feeling felt” is a cross-cultural phenomenon. It may be that the way this “feeling felt” is described in different languages differs but the yearning for it may not. It leaves us with an interesting possibility. As scholars, we may not be able to agree on a definition of dialogue but, as participants, we know one when we have one: we feel felt.

References:
Buber, Martin. (1965). Between man and man. New York: Macmillan.
Siegel, Daniel J., & Hartzell, Mary. (2003). Parenting from the inside out. New York: Penguin.

Download the entire post as a PDF.

CFP (Inter)faces of Dialogue 2014 Romania

(Inter)faces of Dialogue: Constructing Identity through Language Use

5 – 8 June 2014
Transilvania University of Braşov (Romania)
International Association for Dialogue Analysis (IADA) Workshop

The way people talk, dress or behave are types of social codes, important ways of displaying who we are; in other words, they indicate our social identity. Each individual wants to build (him)herself a certain identity. There are multiple identities – some of them are wanted, while some others are unwanted – and a speaker faces a dilemma to choose the best identity for a certain situation and this “browsing” of identities may be achieved through dialogue. In approaching the topic of this workshop, we start from the premise that humans are dialogic beings, users and learners of language in various contexts. While acting and reacting in ever-changing environments (interpersonal or institutional), people try “to achieve more or less effectively certain purposes in dialogic interaction” (Weigand 2008: 3).

The academic interest for social relationships and the way they are organized in dialogues can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century, once Malinowski first suggested in 1923 that humans share “phatic communion”. Scholars in interpersonal communication, social psychology and sociology have ever since highlighted that the concept of ‘identity’ is important for studying the organization of social life.

Individuals use language to construct an identity (or a set of identities) for themselves, while communities use language as a means of identifying their members and of establishing boundaries. Once an individual adheres to a group or a community of practice, (s)he will adopt (and sometimes adapt) the existing linguistic conventions of that group.

The workshop aims at looking the ways in which identity is created and reflected in dialogic action games. We are particularly interested in studying the (inter)faces of dialogue from different perspectives and in different – European and non European – languages. The workshop aims to be interdisciplinary and therefore welcomes proposals from scholars from different areas.

We welcome individual paper presentations, panels and posters that explore topics in the following areas, but are not limited to:
*Construction of personal and group identity
*Names and naming practices
*Identity construction and humour
*Identity and representation
*Linguistic variation and the construction of identity
*Construction of  cultural identity in minority languages
*Identity construction and power
*Construction of identity in computer-mediated communication
*Construction of identity through mass-media

Deadline
The abstract submission deadline (including panel proposals) is January 25, 2014 (Extended) and the notification of acceptance will be received by January 20, 2014 (for submissions sent before 15 december 2013).

For more information or to submit your abstract, please contact the organizing committee at this email address or visit the workshop website.

Reminder: ABC Micro Grants available

UPDATE May 12, 2014: This round of micro grants has been completed – see the results. As further micro grants become available, they will be described on the website.

The Center for Intercultural Dialogue will distribute micro grants for intercultural dialogue from a pool of $5000 made available by the Association for Business Communication. These micro grants are intended to support either or both of the two types of activities described in the mission of the Center: study of intercultural dialogues by Communication scholars, and/or participation in intercultural dialogue through academic interactions between Communication scholars based in different countries, or different linguistic and cultural regions. These grants are sufficient to provide seed funding only: no more than $1000 maximum can be awarded to any one individual. The goal is to encourage international, intercultural, interlingual collaborative research by giving enough funding to offset the cost of airfare only, while providing opportunity (and cause) for matching grants from universities.

ABC logo
If you already have multiple international connections, this grant is not for you – obviously you don’t need it. But if you are at a small college, or if you are a new scholar, or have not yet established significant international connections related to research, you are the intended audience for this competition. If you have been reading publications by an international scholar on a topic of potential relevance to your own research, consider a short trip to discuss ways to collaborate on a future project. If you do not know who has been doing relevant work, check the sources you’ve been reading lately, ask your colleagues, and/or think about who you know from graduate school or who you have met (or heard present an intriguing paper) at a conference. Find someone with similar interests but who takes a different theoretical or methodological stance by virtue of being based in a different cultural context.

The intention is to support the development of new intercultural, professional connections. Thus continuing collaborations are ineligible. Those based in the US are expected to propose travel outside the country. International scholars currently living outside their country of origin are asked to establish a new affiliation in a different region rather than proposing a return to their homeland. We recognize that much interesting work can be done within a country between cultural groups, however this grant program focuses on connecting researchers who are not yet connected, across cultural regions that are typically disconnected. This rationale of cross-cultural connection must be explicit in the project description.

The ABC Micro Grants Application requires applicants to describe their project, provide a brief resume, a short note from their department chair documenting their current status, and one from the host scholar expressing interest in holding conversations related to research. The initial deadline for review of proposals is February 1, 2014. If funds remain after the initial set of grants have been awarded, April 15, 2014 will be the second deadline.

The National Communication Association set aside similar funding for micro grants in 2012-13. Those projects have already been completed, and have been described in sufficient detail that they may serve as models for this year’s applications.

Contact the Center’s Director, Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, with questions.

Living your ideal global life summit

For all those who have asked me how to manage to travel and make international connections as I’m currently doing, this online summit may be of interest. It’s organized by a number of people from SIETAR.

Living your Ideal Global Life Summit

Are you living your ideal global life? Join us January 13-17, 2014 for our free virtual “Living Your Ideal Global Life Summit” for ideas, tips, and great conversation!

This FREE online summit is your passport for launching your ideal global life in the New Year!

Who you are, where you are, and what you’re doing can’t hold you back from living the rewarding global life you desire.

During the week of January 13-17, 2014 we will explore how these aspects of your life shape your global journey and the global lives of others.

In exclusive interviews with 20 amazing guests, we will cover a range of topics from the basics of global living to going deep under the surface and exploring the topics everyone wants to talk about, but no one has – until now.

Whether you’re a digital nomad, expat, work-at-home mom, or travel newbie, 2014 is the year to launch your ideal global life.

(Organized by the Small Planet Studio – click on the link for all the details of speakers, topics, and schedule)

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Qi Wang Schlupp Profile

ProfilesQi Wang Schlupp earned her bachelor’s degree in English at Beijing University (1997). Her master’s (Kent State University, 2001) and doctoral degrees (University of Maryland, 2006) were both in communication. She is currently Professor of Communication at Villanova University and Area Coordinator in the Interpersonal Communication specialization.

Qi Wang

Her teaching and research interests include intercultural and interpersonal communication, with a focus on conflict management. Recently, she has also conducted and published studies in social media use and its influences on interpersonal communication. She has published research in various key communication journals and books (e.g., The SAGE Handbook of Conflict Communication, Human Communication Research, Journal of Public Relations Research, Communication Quarterly, China Media Research, etc.), and presented conference papers annually at the major scholarly communication organizations such as National Communication Association (NCA) and International Communication Associations (ICA). Her papers have won several Top Paper Awards at NCA. Her doctoral dissertation that theorized conflict avoidance strategies won the 2007 Outstanding Dissertation Award at the International Association for Conflict Management at Budapest, Hungary. She has conducted several funded research projects. Her most recent research that investigates the multinational mining industry in Peru has won the scholarship from the Arthur Page Legacy Center at PSU. She has been named as the 2013-2014 Page Legacy Scholar.

She was the 2013-2014 President of the Association for Chinese Communication Scholars (ACCS) affiliated with NCA. She also served as the Student Board Member at ICA in 2005-2006. She has launched the internship program in Shanghai for the Department of Communication at Villanova University in 2014, and also serves as the vice director of the Center for the Cross-Cultural Education and Communication for the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. And she served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Negotiation and Conflict Management Research from 2019 to 2022.

Key publications

Books

Ni, L., Schlupp, Q. W., & Sha, B.-L. (Eds.). (2022). Intercultural public relations: Realities and reflections in practical contexts. Routledge.
Ni, L., Wang, Q., & Sha, B.-L. (2018). Intercultural public relations: Theories for managing relationships and conflicts with strategic publics. Routledge.

Refereed Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Ni, L., De la Flor, M., Wang, Q., & Romero, V. (2021). Engagement in context: Making meaning of the Latino community health engagement process. Public Relations Review, 47(2).

Wang, Q. (2020). Soong Ching-ling and Soong Mei-ling: For the love of one motherland. In C. C. Chao & L. Ha (Eds.), Asian women entrepreneurship (pp. 93-106). Routledge.

Ni, L., Xiao, Z., Liu, W., & Wang, Q. (2019). Relationship management as antecedents to public communication behaviors: Examining empowerment and public health among Asian Americans. Public Relations Review, 45(5).

Ni, L., Wang, Q., & Gogate, A. (2018). Understanding immigrant internal publics of organizations: Immigrant professionals’ adaptation and identity development. Journal of Public Relations Research, 30(4), 146-163.

Ni, L., Wang, Q., De la Flor, M., & Peñaflor, R. (2015). Ethical community stakeholder engagement in the global environment: Strategies and assessment. Public Relations Journal, 9(1), 1-22.

Ni L., Wang, Q., & De la Flor, M. (2015). Intercultural communication competence and preferred public relations practices. Journal of Communication Management, 19(2), 167-183.

Wang, Q., Fink, E. L., & Cai, D. A. (2015, February). Parasocial Interaction. Comm365: Celebrating 100 years of research. NCA Centennial Special Edition.

Wang, Q., & Bowen, S. P. (2014). The limits of beauty: The impact of physician sex and attractiveness on patient communication perceptions. Communication Research Reports, 31(1), 72-81.

Wang, Q., Ni, L., & De la Flor, M. (2014). An intercultural competence model of strategic public relations management in the Peru mining industry context. Journal of Public Relations Research, 26(1), 1-22.

Wang, Q., & Bowen, S. P. (2014). The limits of beauty: The impact of physician sex and attractiveness on patient communication perceptions. Communication Research Reports, 31(1), 72-81.

Wang, Q., Ni, L., & De la Flor, M. (2013). An intercultural competence model of strategic public relations management in the Peru mining industry context. Journal of Public Relations Research, 0, 1-22. doi: 10.1080/1062726X.2013.795864

Fink, E. L., & Cai, D. A., with Wang, Q. (2013). Quantitative methods for conflict communication research. In J. Oetzel & S. Ting-Toomey. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of conflict communication: Integrating theory, research, and practice (2nd ed., pp. 41-66). Thousands Oak, CA: Sage.

Wang, Q., Fink, E. L., & Cai, D. A. (2012). The effect of conflict goals on avoidance strategies: What does not communicating communicate? Human Communication Research, 38, 222-252. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2011.01421.x

Ni, L., & Wang, Q. (2011). Anxiety and uncertainty management in an intercultural setting: The impact on organization-public relationships. Journal of Public Relations Research, 23, 269-301. doi: 10.1080/ 1062726X.2011.582205

Cai, D. A., Fink, E. L., & Wang, Q. (2010). Methods for conflict communication research, with special reference to culture. In D. A. Cai (Ed.) Intercultural communication: Sage benchmarks in communication (Vol. 2, pp. 99-120). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage [Reprint from 2006].

Feeny, K., & Wang, Q. (2010). Comparing the perceptions of success, attributions, and motivations between the Chinese and the U.S. cultures. China Media Research, 6, 56-66.

Wang, Q. (2010). Cultural individualism-collectivism, self-construal, and multiple goal concerns in interpersonal influence situations: A cross-cultural investigation. In Y. Sun (Ed.), Intercultural studies: New frontiers (pp. 197-217). Beijing, China: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

Wang, Q., Fink, E. L., & Cai, D. A. (2008). Loneliness, gender, and parasocial interaction: A uses and gratifications approach. Communication Quarterly, 56, 87-109. doi: 10.1080/01463370701839057

Cai, D. A., Fink, E. L., & Wang, Q. (2006). Quantitative methods for conflict communication research, with special reference to culture. In J. G. Oetzel & S. Ting-Toomey (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of conflict communication: Integrating theory, research, and practice (pp. 33-64). Thousand Oak, CA: Sage.

Work for CID:

Qi Wang wrote KC53: Conflict Management and then translated it into Simplified Chinese. She also has served as a reviewer for Chinese.