Communication Studies Research Areas

The Department of Speech Communication at the University of Georgia offers both a master and a doctoral degree. All graduate students are fully funded and summer support is usually available.  The department has two primary emphases:  Rhetorical Studies and Communication Studies; this page will discuss the Communication Studies (CS) side of the department.  The Communication Studies (CS) faculty offer rigorous training in the social scientific study of communication. Our areas of specialty fall into two broad categories: Interpersonal and Health Communication.  

Faculty in Communication Studies (CS)

Interpersonal Communication at UGA

The graduate program in Interpersonal Communication provides students with a theoretical and methodological foundation in the study of the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of dyadic and group interaction as influenced by a host of individual, relational, and contextual factors. Strongly grounded in an empirical and theory-rich tradition, our faculty provides a multifaceted approach to studying the process of interpersonal communication.  

A focus in interpersonal communication emphasizes the mastery of key areas defining the discipline, innovative development of communication theory, application of our theories in communities, and the production of systematic empirical studies.  Our funded research studies and alliances with the Institute of Behavioral Research and the Southern Center for Communication, Health & Poverty allow for a focused study of interpersonal communication processes that are directly relevant to a variety of real world contexts.  Below we describe some of our recent research in interpersonal communication:

Dr. Hale's most recent research projects concern serial arguments in personal relationships and sequential interpersonal influence strategies. The serial argument research focuses on attributions related to serial arguments and the manner in which perceptions of argument goals influence relational satisfaction.  In his interpersonal influence work, Dr. Hale investigates various explanations for the impact of sequential message strategies (e.g., foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face) on compliance gaining.

Dr. Monahan’s work examines the influence of alcohol consumption on communicative decision making in dyadic interactions.  She also examines the relationship between drinking, social influence strategies used by men and women when under the influence of alcohol and HIV/AIDS risk behaviors and perceptions. 

Dr. Samp examines the role of individual and relational perceptions in defining the goals and behaviors enacted during problematic and conflictual discussions with romantic partners.  Her work examines goal-directed influences on strategic message production and message structure.

Dr. Harris’s research program examines interracial communication, race and pedagogy, and racial identity construction. Her research examines how racialized identities influence communicative experiences and exchanges within the classroom and within familial, friendship, and romantic relationships.

Dr.  Weber examines the interpersonal relationship and communication processes that influence patient behavior during and following the diagnosis of a severe medical condition. A person's experience of a disease is embedded within their social networks and personal relationships, such that relationships both affect and are affected by illness; therefore, her work considers relationship consequences of illness, explores how social networks modify health experiences, and clarifies how a patient's social and clinical networks intersect in important ways.

Health and Risk Communication at UGA

The graduate program in Health Communication provides students a foundation in the application of communication theory and research to enhance the health of individuals and communities.  Our faculty study health communication from diverse perspectives.  Study in health communication emphasizes the mastery of the ways that interpersonal, social influence, and mass communication theories are applied in a health context. 

Our Southern Center for Communication, Health, and Poverty (www.southerncenter.uga.edu) examines the communication of health risks with poor and near poor groups in the South and is 1 of 3 Centers of Excellence in Health Marketing/Health Communication funded by CDC.  All of the health communication faculty and graduate students are involved in five funded studies within the Center. UGA has a new School of Public Health as well as faculty interested in health in psychology and sociology that offers students opportunities to take courses in epidemiology, health policy, biostatistics, health psychology, and medical sociology.  Below we describe some of our recent research in health communication:

Drs. Condit, Harris, & Shen collaborate to study poor southerner’s mental models of the way that genes and behavior impact their health in order to design effective messages about this relationship.  One of their current projects uses qualitative interviews to develop mental maps of low income urban and rural African American and White Georgians’ models of the relationship between genes and environment in heart disease, lung cancer, and diabetes. Preventive messages based on these models are being designed, tested and then disseminated.

Dr. Freimuth’s work examines the degree to which the poor across the South believe they are susceptible to multiple health risks, have adopted health protective behaviors to respond to these risks, and have chosen to respond to some risks and not others. Specifically, her work examines the information seeking the poor engage in when responding to health risks and explores the commonalities and differences in risk responses between low-income African and White southerners.  She is also studying how new technologies such as blogs were used for risk communication during hurricane Katrina and how to prepare local risk communicators for pandemic flu.

Dr. Harris’s health communication research addresses how health behaviors and decision making processes are affected by racialized experiences and religious frameworks. Her specific interests have expanded to explore the intersection of genetics, race, religion/spirituality, and health communication. She has been a Co-Investigator on federally funded grants from both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) designed to explore the ways in which the lay public communicates about genetics and race, and health. She was recently awarded a grant through UGA Research Foundation to explore the influence of religious frameworks on health decisions. She is currently developing a subarea of research on health, faith, and healing.

Dr. Monahan is studying the way disadvantaged youth process anti-tobacco messages.  . She is comparing how low-income African American and White young adolescent message processing for health messages.  Her other current work in health communication examines how alcohol expectancies (what one thinks happens when one drinks) affect how young adolescents and college student’s process anti-drinking messages as well as commercials that the alcohol industry generates. 

Dr. Shen’s research examines the impact of message frames (gain/loss frames) on the processing of health messages and how different frames affect perceptions of risk. Another project examines the association between behavior approach/ inhibition systems and emotional experience after exposure to persuasive messages. In addition, he is currently collaborating with Dr. Samp to examine the role of empathy in health communication. 

Dr. Shim’s research examines how media use influences individuals’ knowledge, efficacy, and behaviors in a health context, and how such influences are moderated by their personal characteristics and social interactions. Her recent study investigates the patterns of self-disclosure in online support groups and their potential health benefits for women with breast cancer. She is also studying disparities in health information seeking and knowledge between different social groups.  

Dr. Weber researches the mutual impact that interpersonal communication and health experiences have on one another. One of her current projects employs in-depth interviews with breast cancer patients and survivors to explore how patients weigh information from different sources in order to make a treatment decision. Another project that she is currently working on reveals ways in which couples communicatively negotiate treatment decisions with one another.