Nov 24, 2008

Faculty, graduate students and graduate alumni of the Department of Communication, which is celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2009, garnered numerous awards and top paper recognition at the National Communication Association meeting in San Diego, November 21-24, 2008.

David Seibold received the 2008 Gouran Research Award for best article published during past two years by a member of the Group Communication division for Dave Seibold and R. A. Meyers (2007). Group argument: A structuration perspective and research program. Small Group Research, 38(3), 312-336. He also received the Robert J. Kibler Memorial Award for distinguished service to the field of Communication.

Tamara Afifi received the Distinguished Article Award from the Family Communication division for Tamara Afifi (2003). Stepfamily communication strengths: Understanding the ties that bind. Human Communication Research, 29,

41-80. The award honors articles five years or older that have had an established impact on the area of family communication.

Linda Putnam received the Best Article of the Year Award from the Organizational Communication Division, for Boris Brummans, Linda Putnam, Barbara Gray, Ralph Hanke, Roy Lewicki, and Carolyn Wiethoff (2008). Making sense of intractable multiparty conflict: A study of framing in four environmental disputes. Communication Monographs, 75, 25-51. This is the second year in a row that a member of the department received the Organizational Communication Division Best Article of the Year (Cynthia Stohl and Michael Stohl received the award in 2007).

Alumna SunWolf, Associate Professor, Santa Clara University Law School (Ph.D. UCSB, 1998), received the Ernest Bormann Book Award for her massive volume on research and practice with juries, Practical jury dynamics: From one juror's trial perceptions to the group's decision-making processes (2007, Lexis-Nexis).

Faculty and Graduate Students also earned top paper awards at the conference.

Beverly Bondad-Brown, Katy Pearce, Ronald E. Rice, and John D’Ambra. Motivations and sources for traditional and internet television by US and Australian students. Top 4 paper, Mass Communication division.

Robin Nabi and Emily Moyer-Guse. Explaining the persuasive effects of entertainment education programming: an empirical comparison of three theories. Top 4 papers, Mass Communication division. Emily Moyer-Guse (Ph.D. UCSB, 2007) is assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the Ohio State University.

Chris Hajek, Howard Giles, Valeria Barker, S. Makoni, and Charles Choi. Reported  compliance in police-civilian encounters: The roles of accommodation and trust in Zimbabwe and the United States. Top 4 paper, Applied

Communication Division. Chris Hajek (Ph.D. UCSB, 2003) is assistant professor department of communication at University of Texas, San Antonio. Valerie Barker (Ph.D. UCSB, 2001) is a lecturer in the department of communication at San Diego State University.

James Honeycutt and Charles W. Choi. I think I can’t: Communication apprehension and imagined interactions. Top 4 paper, Applied Communication Division.

Alumna Ashley Duggan, assistant Professor at Boston College (Ph.D. UCSB, 2003), was awarded the top scholar to scholar presentation for her poster, How do I ask about your disability? A qualitative analysis of medical students' developing questions and 'showing sensitivity' about disability in a standardized patient educator exercise.