Falling Backwards Into Things–The Path to Research in Identity, Stigma and Organizing

I say this about every episode but I definitely have to say it about this one---YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS TODAY'S EPISODE. 

Wow. We cover a lot of territory with Dr. Peter Jensen, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies in the College of Communication & Information Sciences. But first, fun fact: Peter is the first guest we have ever had who said he actually dreamed of being a professor as a young child, and this inspiration came from watching Indiana Jones films where Indiana Jones was in a classroom teaching!! 

But, on to the real stuff. Dr. Jensen studies organizational communication, but what he really looks at it why we organize the way we do, and the communicativeness of the process. What does that really mean? It means he studies things like stigma within an organization and how underlying stigma about topics such as incarceration carry over into decisions that are made, the ways individuals are interacted with and treated, and ultimately the structural issues related to stigma. Peter has worked with and studied individuals who have been incarcerated and who then are trying to re-engage with the world and return to the identity they might have had prior to serving time in prison. Peter is an ethnographer, which means he works in the field and he works directly with the population he is studying as well as the organizations working to help them (or not). 

We cover so much territory in today's conversation, and it certainly sheds light on the breadth and depth of the work being done in the broad area of communication research. 

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