By Loren Sickles Guest Contributor Sickles13@up.edu
Over 40 University of Portland undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff were in attendance at a new colloquia series sponsored by the Communication Studies Department. On September 21, Dr. Renee Heath, a newly tenured professor in the Communication Studies Department, kicked off the new, multi-disciplinary series with a presentation "Power in the Voice of Nonexperts: Public Dialogue and the Implications for Democratic Decision-Making."
Heath's talk summarized the two years of research she and her co-authors, UP Alumni Brit Schneider and Ninon Richartz , and Graduate student Elisa Majors, conducted. As an organizational communication scholar, Heath has a specific interest in how public dialogue can be used more effectively in finding answers to some of the nation's most pressing issues. Following her presentation Heath fielded a number of questions from audience members.
Under the theme "Interdisciplinary Scholarship," communication studies professor Dr. Courtney Fletcher, the colloquia series organizer, said that the purpose of the series is to "help to position the important role our faculty's research plays in the university climate." This sentiment was echoed by Heath during her opening comments when she said that this is "something many of us crave here at the University is to learn a little bit more about the research of my colleges." Heath also expressed a desire that she "hopes it will inspire students."
Over the next several months seven more presentations are planned for the University community to learn about leading edge research of fellow faculty and students. The next presentation will be given by Dr. Norah Martin, of the Philosophy Department, on her study entitled "Preserving Trust, Maintaining Care, and Saving Lives: Competing Feminist Values in Suicide Prevention." Martin's colloquium is set for Tuesday, October 25, 2:30-3:30 pm in BC 163. According to Fletcher, future presentations will include off-campus individuals as well as University undergraduate and graduate students. As with the first session, light refreshments will be available to attendees, due in part to a $100 grant from the Communication Studies Department that offsets the cost of food and drinks.
"I think the lecture series will be beneficial for students, said Junior Danielle Christensen, because it gives us a chance to see how the theories that we are learning are applied in the field." Regarding the makeup of the audience, Heath expressed delight, "I was thrilled that so many graduate students and students were there" stated Heath, after the presentation. "I was also delighted colleagues from other disciplines were there." Reinforcing her hope "that we can create a community that supports and improves each other's research."
Heath and her co-authors conducted a case study on how the non-profit organization, Shaping America's Youth (SAY), convened a series of national, multi-site public dialogues on the issue of childhood obesity. The dialogues were facilitated by another non-profit, AmericaSpeaks, which uses a program called "The 21st Century Town Meeting" to conduct large group discussions on specific national issues.
With the assistance of AmericaSpeaks, SAY was able to conduct meetings in five states with the assurance that participants were informed on the issue of childhood obesity and represented the diversity of each community. Using table discussions and computer technology, several hundred participants dialogued, over the course of an eight hour day, in response to guided questions. "I found Dr. Heath's research very interesting, said Christensen, because it examined the ways in which an issue can be more effectively addressed at the community level, rather than from a top-down government approach." This last February, the Focus the Nation public forum on energy, facilitated by the University's T.O.L.C.S club, was patterned after the AmericaSpeaks model.
In 2010, Heath presented this study at the Western States Communication Association's annual conference held in Anchorage, Alaska. She and her co-authors were recognized with an award as one of the Top Papers in the Organizational Commuincation Division. For an audio recording of Heath's talk go to UP Itunes. Additional information on SAY can be found at shapingamericasyouth.org, and for AmericaSpeaks at americaspeaks.org.
