Courses
My courses are founded upon thoughtful integration of theory and practice in the context of well defined problems. After introducing my students to important communication concepts, I encourage them to apply, compare and synthesize these concepts in making strategic choices and designing well-informed research strategies. Based on a problem-centered approach, I use case studies as tools for teaching strategic decision making. The best applications are developed in the realm of real problems. Therefore, I design my courses as service learning courses where students work with community organizations in solving real problems through strategic thinking and development of tactics. Also, I am particularly interested in the use of communication technologies for pedagogy on strategy and am currently serving as a PI on a project funded by the Discovery Learning Center on 3D simulations for crisis communication training.
This course introduces students to the fundamental principles of public relations. Course-content covers a process-based perspective of public relations, the role of strategy in public relations planning, strategic principles in public relations, the relationship with research and strategy, and tactical principles in media relations, community relations, and message design.
Designed as a service learning experience, this course is designed to provide students a flavor for working with clients. Built upon the foundations of strategic public relations, the course equips students with skills to conduct situation analyses, develop problem statements, develop objectives and strategies based on research, develop and implement tactics and evaluate the campaign at the end of the semester.
The objective of this course is to create an immersion learning experience for students where they work with a client to develop advertising objectives, copy strategy, and print and broadcast copy for the client. Examples of projects include the Purdue Cyberinfrastructure campaign where students worked with the client to design and implement the campaign.
How does culture interact with structure in the realm of the health experiences of individuals and communities that reside at the margins of health care systems? This course addresses the variety of ways in which culture is conceptualized and studied in the context of health communication processes and messages. It introduces the student to the culture-centered approach to the study of marginalization in health care settings, articulating the importance of centralizing subaltern voices in the discursive space.
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the principles and theories of health communication campaigns. Based upon case studies of individual health campaigns implemented in the US and in international settings, the course discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the different theoretical frameworks that are implemented in campaign research. The course covers micro, meso and macro level theories in the area of campaigns.
This course explores the intersections of culture, marginalization and resistance, paying particular attention to understanding those communication processes and messages that constitute marginalization and offer opportunities for social change through the enactment of resistance to the dominant social structures. The approach to culture proposed in the course will seek to elucidate those elements of the local context that are dynamic and offer opportunities for change. It is within this multilayered and dynamic web of culture that privileged social actors exert power and control, and create conditions of marginalization.