The following graduate students in the Department of Communication are currently on the job market (students are listed alphabetically).
Sabine Chai | Heather Davis Epkins | Katie Reynolds Place | Christine Skubisz
Sabine Chai
Sabine Chai (M.A. in Communication, San Diego State University; Master of Theology and B.A. in Chinese Studies, University of Vienna/Austria) is a doctoral candidate in Intercultural Communication and Negotiation. She expects to finish her dissertation in 2010. Her research interests in intercultural communication include issues of identity, adaptation, international migration, and globalization. In negotiation, her research focuses on the influence of goals and planning on negotiation behavior, as well as the influence of power relationships on negotiation strategies and outcomes. She is particularly interested in the influence of culture on intra- and cross-cultural negotiations. Ms. Chai’s research has been presented at NCA, ICA, IACM, and AOM conferences. She has taught intercultural communication, negotiation, communication theory, quantitative research methods, and public speaking.
To view Ms. Chai's CV, click here.
To contact Ms. Chai, e-mail sfritz@umd.edu
Heather Davis Epkins
Heather Davis Epkins, (M.A. in Mass Communication, Louisiana State University; B.A. in Communication Studies with a Music Minor, Virginia Tech) is a doctoral candidate in the Communication Department of the University of Maryland, College Park with a research program that seeks to develop theory within mass communication, political communication, public affairs and public relations. Her qualitative dissertation entitled, Asking the Journalist: How Washington, DC Prestige Press Make Meaning of the War on Terror Frame, explores how the “prestige press” of Washington, D.C. report on national security and terrorism, utilizing theories of agenda-setting and framing. She expects to complete her dissertation in 2010.
Epkins’s paper entitled “How National Security Reporters Make Meaning of Terrorism Information Disseminated by the U.S. Government: An Extension of Mass Communication and Terrorism Theory” received 1st place in the Public Policy Division for the University of Maryland 2008 Graduate Research Interaction Day. Epkins was also awarded a $5,000 fellowship with the national START Center (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism) to assist in the final stages of her dissertation, as well as developed the course curriculum for the University of Maryland START Center’s new Media & Terrorism class. In September of 2009, her co-authored book chapter, regarding post-9/11 public diplomacy campaigns and published within the 2nd volume of The Impact of 9/11 on Business and Economics: The Business of Terror—The Day that Changed Everything, was released.
Epkins’s research has been presented for the AEJMC Conference, the PRSA Educators Academy, the Graduate Research Interaction Day as well as the Department of Homeland Security Academic Summit. She currently serves as the AEJMC Mass Communication & Society Division Graduate Student Co-Liaison. As an adjunct, she has taught graduate-level Media Theory and Media Effects for Johns Hopkins University, as well as Fundamentals of Speech Communication for both Towson University and Anne Arundel Community College. She holds teaching interests in mass communication theory, media effects, journalism, political communication-related courses, public speaking, public relations writing, theory, ethics, and campaigns, as well as qualitative research and issues surrounding mediated terrorism.
Epkins holds more than 15 years practical experience in public relations and media-government relations having served as a Capitol Hill Press Secretary, Communications Director for America’s Travel Industry Association in Washington, D.C., as well as a TV and radio broadcast journalist/on-air personality. She founded a nationally-recognized anti-drug abuse program, worked on several national political campaigns and has taken the communications lead for several strategic corporate and non-profit campaigns, winning national awards for her TV ad spots.
To view Ms. Epkins' CV, click here.
To contact Ms. Epkins, e-mail: missmd98@aol.com
Katie Reynolds Place
Katie Reynolds Place (M.A. in Communication/English, Virginia Tech; B.A. in Communication Studies and French, Virginia Tech) is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the public relations track with a research program that examines theories of gender, power and ethics in public relations. Her paper entitled “What’s guiding the profession? An examination of public relations ethics” received the 2008 PRSA Educator’s Academy Betsy Plank Graduate Research Paper Award. In 2007, her scholarship regarding power and public relations received a “Top Three Graduate Student Paper” award in the Public Relations Division at the National Communication Association Annual Conference.
Ms. Place’s dissertation research combines her research interests of gender and power. Entitled “A qualitative examination of gender and power in public relations,” it explores women public relations practitioners’ meaning making of gender and power – and the intersections of gender, race and power – in public relations.
As a graduate student at University of Maryland, Ms. Place has taught sections of COMM 231: Writing and Reporting for Public Relations, COMM 232: Writing and Editing for Public Relations and COMM 351: Public Relations Techniques. She holds teaching interests in public relations writing, public relations theory, public relations ethics, qualitative research and communication and gender. Prior to pursuing her Ph.D., Ms. Place worked as a public affairs/grassroots communication consultant and as a communication manager in the Washington, D.C. area.
To view Ms. Place's CV, click here.
To contact Ms. Place, call 301-405-0759 or e-mail kplace@umd.edu.
Christine Skubisz
Christine Skubisz (M.A., Michigan State University; B.A., Purdue University) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication. She studies interpersonal communication and persuasion in health and risk contexts. Her research takes an empirical approach to studying how message features and individual differences affect the cognitive processing of risk and health related information. She has studied the influence of memorable breast cancer messages on prevention and detection behaviors (published in the Journal of Health Communication and the Journal of Cancer Education). More recently she has published a chapter in Communication Yearbook discussing the effective communication of quantitative risk information. In her dissertation research, Christine is working toward a theory of health risk information processing. She is investigating when and why numerical presentation of risk information affects perception and decision making. She is also interested in how health literacy and numeracy may moderate information processing and affect outcomes.
To view Ms. Skubisz’s CV, click here.
To contact Ms. Skubisz, e-mail skubisz@umd.edu
