Michelle Violanti

After graduating from college and working, I came to realize that business majors could not communicate. I became determined to figure out why. While I still do not have the answer to that question, I enjoy researching interpersonal relationships (leadership and followership, mentoring, friendship) in organizations. Additionally, I focus on the communication that occurs between faculty and students in and out of the classroom. Finally, the role of culture and social identities (e.g., race, class, gender, sex, mental and physical ability, invisible disabilities) play in the communication process interests me. My research has appeared in Communication Education, Human Communication Research, and Journal of Applied Communication Research. I teach mostly required courses in communication theory, research methods, honors seminars, and senior seminar with an organizational communication course thrown in every so often.

Education

• Ph.D. in Communication Studies from The University of Kansas
• M.A. in Speech Communication from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• B.A. in Communication Arts from Villanova University
• B.S.B.A. in Finance from Villanova University

Research Interests

• Organizational leadership
• Instructional communication and assessment
• Culture and language
• Health and wellness