Welcome!
Hello! My name is Caran Kennedy. I am a doctoral student in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. Specifically, I am pursing my PhD in Communication and Information Sciences with a concentration of Social Justice and Inclusion Advocacy. I am from Birmingham, Alabama. I received my bachelor's degree in Communications at the University of Kentucky and master's in Communication Management at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
My research interests include social justice in underrepresented populations, and race and representation in instructional communication. Critical and cultural theory is significant in my research interests because I am interested in exploring the power structures of society and its role in social justice and instructional communication while providing solutions to such issues. Our first batch of readings included rhetoric, cultural studies, Critical Race Theory and the 1619 project and I found that the connection between the articles consisted of how meaning and interpretation differs among cultures which typically leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
As a communication professional, I believe I have the responsibility of promoting and highlighting the importance of social justice scholarship in the classroom, workplace, and educating others on how we can be more inclusive and respectable of different lifestyles especially with the current climate. Furthermore, such conversations may be uncomfortable to discuss because it is easier to reveal and pinpoint injustices than to initiate justice within this realm of social and society systems.
I hope you enjoy the work I have completed in my Critical Cultural Theory course this semester to grasp a thorough understanding of theory and most importantly why theory matters!
My research interests include social justice in underrepresented populations, and race and representation in instructional communication. Critical and cultural theory is significant in my research interests because I am interested in exploring the power structures of society and its role in social justice and instructional communication while providing solutions to such issues. Our first batch of readings included rhetoric, cultural studies, Critical Race Theory and the 1619 project and I found that the connection between the articles consisted of how meaning and interpretation differs among cultures which typically leads to misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
As a communication professional, I believe I have the responsibility of promoting and highlighting the importance of social justice scholarship in the classroom, workplace, and educating others on how we can be more inclusive and respectable of different lifestyles especially with the current climate. Furthermore, such conversations may be uncomfortable to discuss because it is easier to reveal and pinpoint injustices than to initiate justice within this realm of social and society systems.
I hope you enjoy the work I have completed in my Critical Cultural Theory course this semester to grasp a thorough understanding of theory and most importantly why theory matters!