Research Interests:

• Curriculum Vitae: relatively up-to-date

My "areas" of interest are in health communication and science communication (although I really like just about every aspect of what our discipline covers). But I also have a  strong interest in religious communication. I have two ongoing projects: the first will be a collection of narratives relating to the experience of being a PK (Preacher's Kid). It will focus on the common experiences of PKs and how the phenomenon of "being" a PK "happens".

The second will also utilize narratives. I am very interested in how people go through the process of religious and/or spiritual conversion(s). The phenomenon here is what makes a person opt for one particular type or sub-type of a religion or spiritual path over another. I will be seeking those who have made ANY type of change, from being a Baptist to a Presbyterian, from Jew to Methodist, from Wiccan to Urantian, and so on. This being said, I am a Christian but not a big fan of organized religion. Want to talk? Send me an email or come by my office!

My textbook entitled "Introduction to Communication: An Applied Research Perspective" was published by Kendall Hunt in Fall of 2003. The second edition will be available for Fall of 2005 sometime in early September.

And I like reading Harry potter! Is that research? Most of the time I enjoy Scientific American (no, really!).

For Spring of 2004, Communication Studies 295- Health Communication was approved by the UNCW curriculum committee and is now incorporated into the course catalog. This class will be an overview of some the pressing issues in a relatively new area of study for our discipline. Topics include:

• Intrapersonal communication (how we communicate to ourselves about our own health)
• Interpersonal communication with health care practitioners
• The boundary between wellness and the political forces behind health care
• Cultural sensitivity and health care issues
• The beginning, sustaining and ending of life