New Faculty and Graduate Students Join CMS

Dr. Nik Palomares (Professor) has joined the CMS faculty starting this fall. Nik comes to us from the University of California-Davis and will join the Interpersonal Communication area of the department. Nik will be teaching our undergraduate communication research methods course this fall. The following information is from the Moody College interview done for all new faculty this fall.

“Communication practice is a focus for me, as much as communication theory is. Students have diverse career goals, and I try to promote critical thinking skills and other tacit knowledge that will set them up for success as they enter the workforce or plan for future studies in advanced programs. My work has increasingly become more applied with a focus on mental health and how communication processes affect psychological wellbeing. My work has always had a focus on critical communication phenomena, such as how people understand others’ goals in conversation, but more recently have I made specific strides in my research to address applied agendas that matter in practical ways as much as they matter in theoretical ways. I have recently started to investigate cyberbullying and how victims process bullying messages.”

Nik added, “I teach research methods and require students to design their own studies and collect data as part of the course because methods are best learned by using them in bonafide research. I want students to be able to take what I am teaching them and apply it in useful, helpful ways to their everyday lives.”

We also welcome 22 new graduate students. This includes 12 Ph.D., 9 M.A., and one non-degree-seeking student across the three areas of the department. The new students took part in program orientations led by Anne Bormann and René Dailey on August 18 and 19. Below is a list of all the students by area and program: