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COMM Shined at the 2026 AEJMC Conference!

AEJMC's 109th Annual Conference was held in New Orleans, Louisiana

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JOB CALL: Assistant Professor in Public Relations

Come join our COMMunity!

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Remembering Former Department Chair Dr. Edward L. Fink (1945-2026)

Dr. Fink was a formative part of our department and will be missed by all who knew him

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Congrats to our 2026 Departmental Award Winners!

We are honored to recognize our outstanding COMMunity members!

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Grad Student T-Kea Blackman Wins Top Prize at Do Good Challenge Finals

What a MAJOR accomplishment for T-Kea and Black People Die by Suicide Too

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Explore Communication at UMD

Undergraduate Students

Interested in our undergraduate program?

The Department of Communication at the University of Maryland offers a B.A. in communication, a rhetoric minor and an oral communication program. Communication is a Top Ten major at the University of Maryland and has been for ten years.


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Faculty and Staff Information

Faculty and Staff Information

Search our directory to learn about our faculty and staff, or access resources relevant to faculty and staff.


Extending the Boundaries of Paracrises: A Computational Perspective on Narrating Stalemates Through eWOM in Electing Mr. Speaker on X

Research published in the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management

Communication

Author/Lead: Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour
Dates:

Social media play crucial dialogic and strategic roles during paracrisis. Responding to a prior call to extend agenda‐setting theory to study paracrises, this manuscript builds on the literature by moving beyond the dominant focus on for‐profit organisations in public relations and crisis studies into the political sphere. Adopting unsupervised machine learning and qualitative methods, this study used a comprehensive dataset of 2451 user‐generated comments on X during the 2023 U.S. House of Representatives Speaker election to contribute to the broader discourses on paracrises. Findings from topic modelling revealed that the agenda narrative focused on House proceedings and conflicts, the GOP's internal struggle, a leadership crisis and Democratic alternatives, as well as shared political interests and ideologies. In addition, a combination of sentiment analysis and sentence mapping highlighted positive user comments focused on the theatricalisation of serious politics and on appreciation for Democratic comportment. Conversely, negative comments emphasised attacks on figures/party, criticism of legislative dysfunction, and mismanagement of resources. This study first advances a definition for political paracrisis and highlights the profound contribution of these findings to the praxis of crisis studies.

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How AI induces professional identity threats: A survey study with public relations professionals

Co-Authored work in Public Relations Review

Communication

Author/Lead: Yan Qu
Contributor(s): Taufiq Ahmad
Dates:

The transformative force of AI is largely redefining how public relations professionals approach their work, understand their responsibilities, and make sense of the meaning and value associated with being a PR practitioner. While research in other disciplines have increasingly recognized the implications of AI toward professional identities, this topic remains underexplored in the public relations field. Through a quantitative survey (N = 285), we assessed how PR practitioners experience professional identity threats across five dimensions: expertise, status position, autonomy, professional influence, and job responsibility. Our findings highlight that these perceived threats are associated with a combination of factors, including AI use patterns, attitudes and assessment of AI, and influences from leaders and peers. Overall, this study contributes to ongoing conversations about the impact of AI toward the future of public relations through a novel perspective exploring PR professional identities. It also offers practical insights for leaders and organizations on strategies to support PR practitioners in successfully navigating the AI-driven public relations landscape.

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Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: A Reflective Approach

New book by Dr. Ganga Dhanesh!

Communication

Author/Lead: Ganga Dhanesh
Dates:

Discussing classic and cutting-edge research in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its communication practices, this book critically examines key issues and debates of corporate social responsibility communication in global contexts.

This book conceptualizes CSR communication as a reflective practice anchored in organizational values, identity, and purpose, yet responsive to continually shifting societal expectations. It draws on current case studies to explain why reflective CSR communication has never been more crucial to help organizations articulate their evolving roles in society. Organized into three sections – core concepts, a framework for reflective practice, and applications in areas such as employee relations, crisis communication, and the rapidly developing terrain of artificial intelligence – it highlights how organizations can tell their CSR stories authentically to create ethical brand identities that can continue to resonate with their stakeholders.

The book will be of interest to advanced students, educators, researchers, and practitioners pursuing advanced credentials who are interested in the intersections of CSR and strategic communication, public relations, corporate communication, and communication management.

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