The content of this text was created by the following contributors:
Tim Appignani is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Temple University, and Pennsylvania State University. His doctorate focused on studies of new media, gender, and communication; the synthesis of which exists in the areas of masspersonal and gender communication. For this reason, he was thrilled to co-author the units on these two topics for an open educational resource like this one that provides equitable access to information about these important concepts.
Shannon DeBord has been an instructor in the communication field for 20 years, at multiple community colleges and universities, including Austin Community College. Holding a bachelor's degree from University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree from University of Houston-Victoria, DeBord has additional coursework in organizational communication, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in community college policy and administration from University of Maryland Global Campus. "The community college, with all the students from different ages, races, genders, disabilities, is a place where everyone learns from everyone," she said. DeBord grew up in the Alief area of Houston, Texas, which touts itself as the most international community in the world. She grew up interested in other cultures and experiencing them through meeting people from other cultures and countries and listening to their experiences, traveling, and studying. DeBord has recently begun recording as a co-host for a podcast called Interculturaling, the brainchild of her friend Elda Acevedo. DeBord thanks Sara Hougham for reading the chapter and giving insightful comments in the writing process
Rita Gomez graduated with her Master's in Communication Studies from Texas State University. She serves as an Adjunct Professor for Austin Community College and Texas State University. Rita loves all things about interpersonal communication, and she has a deep passion for discussing and teaching how to effectively approach conflict. She chose to participate in this project because she wished to challenge herself, but also hopes this text will help grow your love for interpersonal communication!
Marcus Hassell is a professor in Communication Studies at Austin Community College. His research interests include cultural studies, rhetoric and civic engagement. Dr. Hassell participated in this project to contribute to the ongoing process of providing quality scholarship in communication studies and increase communication competence in society.
Christina Michura (M.A., Texas State University) is a Higher Education Student Affairs Associate Dean and an Adjunct Professor of Communication at Austin Community College. She enjoys helping people learn more about communication since it is a skill that is relevant to every aspect of life.
Angela Niedermyer holds a PhD. in Interpersonal Communication from University of Texas at Austin. Her current research interests are secrets, privacy management, emotional expression, and conflict management. She enjoys using power tools and starting any project that has to do with home improvement.
Rudy C. Pett (M.A., University of Texas at Austin) is an adjunct professor at Austin Community College and a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests focus on communication in romantic relationships, specifically romantic partners’ communication about relationship irritations and stress. His involvement in producing this OER content was motivated by a desire to improve students’ access to high-quality, zero-cost education materials, with a special interest in those providing practical, educational information about something we use every day: communication.
Daniel Usera (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is an Associate Professor of Communication at Austin Community College. His scholarly interests lie mostly in interpersonal communication, specifically facework and persuasion. His mission is to increase public interest in interpersonal communication research through writing, public workshops, and creating video lectures for his YouTube channel.
Teri L. Varner is an Associate Professor of Communication at St. Edward’s University (Austin, TX). She holds a Ph.D. in Communication with an emphasis in Performance Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She teaches basic courses in communication, communication theory, nonverbal communication, public speaking, and active listening. Her ethnographic qualitative research interests range from women of color in American higher education to hair/body politics to increase the amount of classroom instruction devoted to teaching students how to actively listen in the 21st century
Lingzi Zhong is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. She studies interpersonal and health communication, particularly individuals’ communication and experiences of uncertainty. She loves the idea of writing an OER book in interpersonal communication for undergraduate students, as she believes that they should have an easy access to a high-quality textbook that shares the wonderful research and theories about interpersonal communication
