Professor wins Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship
Srividya Ramasubramanian, professor of communication recently received the 2020 Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship from the National Communication Association (NCA).
Srivi Ramasubramanian
Srividya Ramasubramanian, Presidential Impact Fellow, professor of communication with the College of Liberal Arts, and director of the Difficult Dialogues on Campus Race Relations at Texas A&M University, recently received the 2020 Gerald M. Phillips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship from the National Communication Association (NCA).
She also holds the distinction of being the first person of color to receive this award.
“While I am honored to get this award, it is sad that it has taken so long to recognize the ground-breaking work of scholars of color as exemplary,” Ramasubramanian said.
Given annually, the award is presented to scholars responsible for authoring bodies of published research and creative scholarship in applied communication. Ramasubramanian’s revolutionary approach exemplifies the essence of the award. It shows how applied communication scholars can simultaneously and collaboratively infuse pressing social issues in communication research, while bringing communication research to bear on our local and global communities. Ramasubramanian’s scholarly and public achievements tremendously influence the discipline of Communication and the communities served by this research. Ramasubramanian’s innovative research involving media literacy initiatives including Media Rise, Muslims and Media, and work fostering difficult dialogues, are particularly noteworthy.
“My scholarship is community-centered, collaborative, and focused on real-world impact. Communication is essential to making meaning, building connections, challenging status quo, and bring about positive changes in the world around us,” Ramasubramanian said.
“NCA’s annual awards honor communication scholars’ teaching, scholarship, and service,” NCA Executive Director Trevor Parry-Giles said. “NCA is proud to recognize Dr. Ramasubramanian’s significant contributions to the Communication discipline with this award.”
Ramasubramanian is also grateful for her time in the College of Liberal Arts.
“The College of Liberal Arts is essential to understanding the role of socio-cultural, historical, and political factors in co-creating ethical, peaceful, just, and sustainable communities,” she said.
Ramasubramanian’s award will be presented virtually on November 21 at the NCA 106th Annual Convention. For more information about NCA’s awards program, visit http://www.natcom.org/awards/.
About the National Communication Association
The National Communication Association (NCA) advances Communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry. NCA serves the scholars, teachers, and practitioners who are its members by enabling and supporting their professional interests in research and teaching. Dedicated to fostering and promoting free and ethical communication, NCA promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems. NCA supports inclusiveness and diversity among our faculties, within our membership, in the workplace, and in the classroom; NCA supports and promotes policies that fairly encourage this diversity and inclusion.
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