October 24, 2011

Comm Studies student and professor attend regional conference

An Eastern Illinois University Communication Studies student and professor recently attended a regional conference on Conversation Analysis.

Stephanie Gruner (Senior Corporate Communication major) and Dr. Shirley Staske-Bell, Professor, attended a Conversation Analytic Data Session at the University of Illinois, Springfield on September 24th, 2011.  The Data Session coincided with a speaking engagement by Dr. John Heritage, who is one of the most distinguished scholars in Conversation Analysis in the world.  The event was organized by the Midwest Conversation Analyst's Working Group of which Dr. Bell has been a member for many years. 

The Conversation Analytic data examined by the group of scholars was video and audio taped data from the medical school at UIS and focused upon pedagogical interactions between attending physicians and medical students. According to Dr. Staske-Bell, "You end the day feeling like you've run an intellectual marathon.  Your brain is fried but keeps running for days after a good data session.  You keep connecting points of inquiry, keep learning, and end up asking and answering questions you never before thought to consider. Working alongside John Heritage is phenomenal.  Not many times do you get to see the "best of the best" work and get to talk to them about their work as well."

Stephanie Gruner concurred with Dr. Staske-Bell's comments.  She said, "I learned so much.  It was awesome."  Stephanie stepped up to provide some observations on the data being examined. She observed some non-verbal expressions that contributed to the analysis of the interaction between the attending and the resident doctors. 

Other scholars at the Data Session included professors and students from the University of Illinois, the State University of New York, Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The Department of Communication Studies at Eastern Illinois University supported this academic event.