Teaching

What is the point of studying interpersonal communication? Don't we all talk?  

Well, people vary greatly in their ability, motivation, and intention to communicate. Some can and want to articulate their thoughts and feelings any time in any context.; yet others are more circumspect. To understand why people differ, we need to understand what people bring to any social interaction: What motivates them to manage conversations? How do two people effectively coordinate a conversation? What do they want? Perhaps most fundamentally: How do two people make sense of shared information?

Scholars from every methodological corner come together in the discipline of communication studies to acquire and produce knowledge, and to find answers to the complicated world of human symbolic exchange (aka "talk"). In my own research I rely on social scientific methods. 

Students profit tremendously from scholarship, not only when it comes to actual findings, but also when it comes to being able to differentiate good science from bad science. There are lots of myths about communication that science simply has not supported: Women are not any more compassionate than men. And viewing your partner through rose-colored glasses actually makes for more-not less-satisfying relationships.

Applying scientific knowledge to interpersonal communication improves our lives, helps us understand why people do what they do, and ultimately makes us more compassionate about our shortcomings and those of other people.