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Communication is believed to hold a central role in recreating an individual's sense of meaning and well-being after a loss. Narrative theory in particular points to ways that people create meaning and connection with others. Literature on bereavement suggests that the formation of connections with others, or building community, comprises an important part of the healing process. For this study, the content of bulletin board postings commemorating deceased children was studied quantitatively and qualitatively. Data were examined to learn how contributors used the Web site to connect with others who shared experience of losing a child, engage in meaningful shared activities, and create community. Findings from the data analysis suggest that the Web site contributors are able to discuss topics that might be restricted in other communication scenes. The discussion of these topics allows them to serve as 'witnesses' to truths learned as a result of the loss of a child and enables the participants to keep the memory of the child alive. By participating in this scene of meaning negotiation, we argue that the participants actively construct a counterplot to societal narrative expectations for bereavement that facilitates the creation of some positive meanings.

Lists the top-ranking doctorate-granting institutions in communication studies in the United States. Combination of the National Communication Association and International Communication Association awards from 1994 to 1998; Use of the rankings to assess the programs of particular doctoral institutions.

Researchers have generally ignored the role of communication in academic leadership as it relates to chair-faculty relationships. A turning point analysis was employed to examine what types of communicative events influence the construction, maintenance, and alteration of chair-faculty relationships. Seven types of turning point were discovered: (1) performance evaluation, (2) recognition, (3) support, (4) trustworthiness, (5) job interference, (6) outside interaction, and (7J interpersonal discussion. Trustworthiness turning points promoted the greatest negative change in faculty perceptions of the chair-faculty relationship and significantly decreased the amount of personal information a faculty member would share with the department chair. Subsequent analysis revealed that department chairs pursuing benevolent goals (e.g. helping socialize the faculty member regarding department expectations) were perceived as moving the chair-faculty relationship in more positive directions while department chairs pursuing impersonal or selfish goals (e.g. lying to the faculty member in order to gain information) were perceived as moving the chair-faculty relationship in negative directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]