School News - College of Communication and Information

Department of
Communication
UK’s Department of Communication offers
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees for
undergraduate communication majors and teaches
most of the graduate courses leading to a Master’s or
Doctoral degree in communication through the College’s
Graduate Program in Communication. We have experienced
considerable growth over the past year. Last fall,
we obtained four new faculty lines and this year, we
obtained one new faculty line. Including replacements
for faculty who have retired, that translates into eight
new people on our faculty in two years. The number of
undergraduate pre-majors and majors continues to
increase, as well. We now serve nearly 500 students in
our program. Although funding through the National
Institutes of Health and other agencies has been severely
curtained in recent years, we continue to bring in a
significant amount of grant dollars to the University. Our
portfolio now includes funding from not only the
National Institutes of Health, but the Department of
Homeland Security. Almost all of this research is
focused on the health communication area, an area in
which we ranked 6th in the nation in a recent poll by the
National Communication Association.
Department
News
Students
Senior Ashley Collette was
accepted into MA programs
in communication at
Marquette University and
Wake Forest University and
received full teaching assistantship
offers from both programs.
Senior Elizabeth
Nicolet was accepted into the
MA program at the University
of Cincinnati with a full
teaching assistantship award.
Senior Collin Cowgill was
named the 2008 “Scholar
Athlete of the Year.” This is
one of the highest honors
the University of Kentucky
Athletic Association awards to
a student athlete.
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Faculty
Dr. Michael Arrington had
his article “Prostate cancer
and the social construction of
masculine sexual identity”
accepted for publication in
the International Journal of
Men’s Health.
Dr. Douglas Boyd continues
to serve as the chief of staff to
UK President Lee T. Todd, Jr.
Dr. Elisia L. Cohen was
competitively selected among
a group of early career investigators
by the National
Cancer Institute’s Division
of Cancer Control and
Population Sciences and the
Office of Behavioral and
Sciences Research of the
National Institutes of Health
to attend the 4th Annual
Advanced Training Institute
on Health Behavior
Theory at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison in
July, 2008. She also
attended the International
Communication Association
Conference in May to present
her original research entitled
“Naming and claiming
cancer, fears, and fatalism
among African-American
women: An application of
Problematic Integration
(PI) theory.”
Dr. Pam Cupp had her
article “Combining and
Adapting American Schoolbased
Alcohol and HIV
Prevention Programs in
South Africa: The HAPS
Project” accepted for
publication in the special
AIDS Care edition “Youth
and Vulnerable Children.”
Dr. Alan DeSantis was
named UK Best Professor in
the latest Kentucky Kernel
poll. This makes seven out of
the past nine years. Way to
go, Alan!
Professor Regina Francies
participated in UK’s Dance
Blue fundraiser and attended
the National Communication
Association convention
in Chicago.
Dr. Nancy G. Harrington,
Scott Johnson and Linda Mudge
welcome KCHC conference
registrants.
Dr. Nancy Harrington
finished her two-year term as
chair of the Coalition for
Health Communication and
was appointed to the Cardinal
Hill Research Committee.
Dr. Donald Helme joined
the faculty at the rank of
assistant professor; he comes
to us from Wake Forest
University. Dr. Helme’s
research focuses on substance
abuse prevention, most
recently in relation to intercultural
issues. Recent projects
include a study of environmental
tobacco smoke
prevention among Native
Americans and a study of
smokers in Hungary.
Welcome, Don!
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