This fall, the Department of Communication welcomed three new tenure-track faculty. Read all about them in our Faculty Spotlight below!
The Department of Communication is hosting its 2nd annual “Professional-Amateur” Day on November 13th at the Boone Center. The goal of this networking event, which will feature a keynote address from alumnus Carol Barr, is to connect students with professionals in the Lexington community to provide professional development advice. Following a networking lunch, students are invited to listen to one of three panels of working professionals and communication alumni describing their pathway to career success. If you are interested in more information about this event or volunteering, contact Ms. Cyndy Harbett Miller at cyndyharbett.miller@uky.edu.
Please consider “giving back” to our “Communications Fund for Excellence.” Your donations are tax deductible, and you may click here for more information. Your support will “pay it forward” for the next generation of Communication students!
The UK Communication Student Association elected new officers during their first meeting of the semester. They recently celebrated National Free Speech Week from Oct 19-25 with a variety of events to raise awareness of the importance of the week with campus advocacy. They are a national partner of FreeSpeechWeek.org Find out more about the CSA here.
Lambda Pi Eta is a national communication studies honor society with approximately 440 chapters in the nation, including our own Alpha Chi chapter at the Department of Communication in the College of Communication and Information (CI). Lambda Pi Eta is in its second year at the University of Kentucky. Fall activities for the chapter are highlighted here.
Faculty Spotlight
Marko Dragojevicreceived his Ph.D. in Communication from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studies language and interpersonal/intergroup communication. In particular, his research examines the effects of linguistic style (e.g., accent, dialect, politeness) on speaker evaluations and other communication outcomes, as well as the cognitive and affective processes underlying those effects. His recent publications have appeared in Human Communication Research, Journal of Language and Social Psychology,Journal of Health Communication, and Communication Research. Dr. Dragovevic is teaching courses on persuasion and communication and language this spring.
Andrew Pilnyreceived his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. His main areas of research are a blend between organizational/small group communication and network/computational social science. He develops and tests theories to understand, predict and further advance organizing systems. He is also interested in communication and behavior in virtual worlds including experimental gaming designs. He uses many different research methods, but specializes in social network analysis. Dr. Pliny is teaching communication theory and organizational communication courses this spring.
Jennifer Scarduzio received her Ph.D. from Arizona State University. She joined the department as an assistant professor of organizational communication this fall. Her research examines the intersections of bureaucracy, emotion, violence, and wellness in a variety of organizational and health settings. Her most current research projects look at topics such as gender, race, class, and wellness in bureaucratic organizations and online violent victimization, such as cybersexual harassment. She is the co-author of the textbook Surviving Work: Toxic Organizational Communication published by Kendall Hunt in May 2014. Also, she has published in various outlets including Communication Monographs, Management Communication Quarterly, the Handbook of Health Communication, and the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, among others. Dr. Scarduzio is teaching workplace communication and advanced topics in organizational communication courses this spring.
