Research Labs
Narrative Nebraska
Dr. Jody Koenig Kellas
Research in the Narrative Nebraska lab seeks to investigate the links between storytelling and health and implement interdisciplinary, narrative-based interventions to improve caregiving, communication, and psychosocial well-being for families and care providers. Grounded in the theory of Communicated Narrative Sense-Making, we study the impact of stories; the process of storytelling; and the ways in which narrative research theory, and methods can be used to inform interventions for individuals and families coping with illness and other difficulties.
Communication and Identity Lab
Dr. Jordan Soliz
Projects in the Communication and Identity Lab examine identity and difference in personal relationships, families, and communities with the goal of understanding how communication facilitates relational and community solidarity, development of worldviews and social attitudes, and individual well-being.
H.E.A.L. Lab
Dr. Angela Palmer-Wackerly
The HEAL Lab works to improve the Health of ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world through Equity, Advocacy, and Listening. An ecological perspective is encouraged in this lab, in which participants consider communication from multiple levels (e.g., individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and mass communication/policy). Participants have looked at contexts, ranging from chronic and nonvisible illness to rural and cultural health, and investigated communication processes, such as disclosure, privacy, supportive communication, decision-making, community engagement, patient-family-provider communication.
Center for Coalition Praxis and Liberation
Drs. Kate Siegfried, Satveer Kaur-Gill, & Liahnna Stanley
The Center for Coalitional Praxis andLiberation is a collaborative research lab for students, faculty, and community members that foregrounds dynamic communication processes as foundational to the liberation of oppressed, colonized, exploited, and racialized peoples and communities across the globe.
Interdisciplinary Collaborations
Faculty in the Department of Communication Studies are actively involved in campus-wide interdisciplinary initiatives and program:
- Minority Health Disparities Initiative
- Rhetoric Society of America (UNL Chapter)
- Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research Interest Group
- Peer Review of Teaching Project
- Humanities on the Edge