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4/20/22

By ARHU Staff 

Professor of Communication Linda Aldoory will be leaving her position as associate dean for faculty affairs and research and director of the Center for Humanities Research in the University of Maryland’s College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) to become the dean of American University’s College of Arts and Sciences, the university’s largest school. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2022.

Aldoory joined the faculty of the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland in 1999 and has held a number of administrative roles since 2015. She previously served as associate dean for research and programming, diversity officer and equity administrator in ARHU, associate chair of the Department of Communication and founder and director of the Center for Health Risk and Communication, housed in the Department of Communication. She also served as endowed chair and director of the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy in the School of Public Health. 

Aldoory studies public relations, feminism and health communication, with much of her work focusing on the effects of media messages and campaigns on underserved health populations. She serves as vice president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) and is president elect for AEJMC. She holds affiliate appointments in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, UMD’s School of Public Health and the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her recent book, “The Future of Feminism in Public Relations and Strategic Communication,” co-authored with Elizabeth Toth, won the 2021 PRIDE Outstanding Book Award from the Public Relations Division of the National Communication Association.  

During her time in the ARHU Dean’s Office, Aldoory has strengthened the research mission of the college by broadening visibility and support for humanities research; led the college diversity committee and actively assessed the diversity strategic plan with an eye toward next steps; and spearheaded the college’s Campaign on Race, Equity and Justice, which has included a Committee on Race, Equity and Justice to advise the dean, a Dean’s Colloquium Series on Race, Equity and Justice, and enhanced curriculum and programming. She also played a key role in securing speakers for and organizing the Dean’s Lecture Series, which invites artists and public intellectuals to visit the college for timely dialogue. And she’s worked closely with the Office of Faculty Affairs to address a wide range of faculty concerns.

“Linda is an efficient and effective administrator whose skills and talents will be missed in ARHU but greatly valued, I’m sure, at American,” said ARHU Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill. “Her passionate and upbeat approach to finding solutions for challenging problems will serve her well in the new role and I wish her continued success.”

Effective July 1, 2022, Professor of Communication Trevor Parry-Giles, will step away from his current role as associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), to serve a two-year term as the associate dean for faculty affairs and research to provide continuity for the new ARHU dean. Parry-Giles has taught communication at the University of Maryland since 1999. In ARHU, Parry-Giles has served on the Graduate Fellowships Committee for six years and has chaired and served on numerous selection and award committees for the Graduate School. He has served on seven faculty search committees and the search committee for the dean of the School of Journalism in 2011–12. He was also chair of the Department of Communication’s Appointment, Promotion and Tenure (APT) committee and Professional Track Faculty Promotion committee, and served on the ARHU APT committee. He was recently named a 2022 community fellow with the Humane Metrics in the Humanities and Social Sciences initiative.

The Office of the Dean looks forward to announcing an interim appointment for DEI soon.

10/15/21

PRIDE Awards – Outstanding Book/Monograph:

Aldoory, L, & Toth, E. (2021). The Future of Feminism in Public Relations and Strategic CommunicationA Socio-Ecological Model of Influences. Rowman & Littlefield.

 

 

The PRIDE awards are given by the PR Division of the National Communication Association, which is comprised primarily of faculty in the area of communication. Winners have proven to be some of the seminal works in the field.

The awards date back to at least 1989 and are designed to recognize achievement in public relations research. The number of categories has varied over the years, but some version of the best book/monograph and best research article have existed since the start. Some years include a best PR textbook category.

The winners are determined by a committee of three NCA PR Division members. Two are elected at the business meeting the preceding year. The third member, and chair, is the immediate past chair of the division. The committee automatically reviews all articles in Public Relations Review and Journal of Public Relations Journal, but accepts nominations from other journals.

 

4/22/21

Professor Linda Aldoory has been newly elected Vice President of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). She will go through the association's leadership ladder and serve as the AEJMC President for 2023-24.

"I am honored and excited to have the chance to help lead AEJMC in the future. I look forward to working with staff and membership as well as other leaders and organizations to advance journalism and mass communication education, research, and professional freedom," Aldoory said.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a nonprofit, educational association of journalism and mass communication educators, students, and media professionals. The Association’s mission is to promote the highest possible standards for journalism and mass communication education, to cultivate the widest possible range of communication research, to encourage the implementation of a multi-cultural society in the classroom and curriculum, and to defend and maintain freedom of communication in an effort to achieve better professional practice and a better informed public.

1/29/21

Click here to read the full article.

By  and 

[Excerpt:]
But a communications expert questioned whether the campaign might actually create more frustration as people seek a product that remains in short supply.

“If you’re dealing with an issue of trust, this kind of campaign might actually work against that, especially if you’re dealing with not having enough vaccine for people,” said Paola Pascual-Ferrà, associate professor of communications at Loyola University Maryland.

Linda Aldoory, a professor of health communications at the University of Maryland, said she was encouraged by the initial crafting of the campaign, especially as it leaned on trusted figures in the community — pastors, community leaders, local celebrities — something that’s “been shown time and time again to be a really effective way to reach the people you want to reach.”

She added that the state should consider on-the-street marketing — delivering flyers or pamphlets through churches or supermarkets, for example — to reach an older population. A frequent request from older residents during community health campaigns, Aldoory said, is for “something I can put in my purse” or take home to pass along to a friend or neighbor.

David Nevins, a public relations executive and president of Nevins & Associates in Baltimore, said some might see a marketing campaign as counterintuitive given how many people are desperately hunting for the few available doses.

“There’s a huge number of people for whom marketing is obviously not needed,” Nevins said. “But we’re also aware of the fact that there are a number of good people who are nervous and scared and have a bit of trepidation about the efficacy of the vaccine and the ultimate safety of the vaccine.”

Martha McKenna, a Democratic media consultant, applauded the launch as “a good first step.” But she said the state appears still to be struggling with getting out information about how to sign up for appointments and actually get a dose. The process currently involves not only signing up for local health department wait lists but scouring numerous other providers — pharmacies, clinics, hospitals — for possible appointments.”

“We should be making sure people have a 1-800 number they can call if they don’t have the internet,” McKenna said. “Where can you get the vaccine? When can you get the vaccine? How easy is it going to be to get the vaccine? That’s going to be the next step.”

The first two vaccines, produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, became available in Maryland in mid-December, initially for hospital workers and residents and staff of nursing homes, which have been hard hit with infections and deaths.

State health officials have been concerned that there initially has been a low vaccination rate, with more people declining the shot than expected. In the first weeks, only 30% of eligible health care workers took their first of two doses of the vaccine, a number that’s now closer to 80%, Hogan said. Earlier this week, Johns Hopkins estimated participation among its employees at about 50%.

“We were a little bit surprised, as were the hospitals, at the reluctance of some of the health care workers,” Hogan said.

The initial rollout also has been slow, with less than half the doses received in Maryland so far actually being administered, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state Department of Health’s estimate of doses used is higher, at 56%.

In the weeks since, eligibility has expanded significantly, now including all residents age 65 and older, first responders, some government officials, long-term care residents and staff, educators and certain essential workers. Many, including seniors, have reported difficulty in securing vaccination appointments through hospitals, pharmacies and local health departments.

Some local health departments aren’t providing shots to all those eligible, instead focusing on those 75 and older.

 

1/28/21

Excerpt from The Washington Post (To read the full article click here.)

By Fenit Nirappil

...

Behavioral psychologists say public health authorities must be mindful of a backlash as they start to shift mask guidance. When people living through a crisis are confused, they often stick to their habits.

“When you look at leaders and you see mixed messages like the ones you’ve seen in the past, you tend to latch onto the ones that make you feel comfortable,” said David Abrams, a professor of social and behavioral health at New York University and a former National Institutes of Health official.

Abrams said it is essential to acknowledge that the guidance is changing and to be patient if people do not change their behavior immediately.

“Let’s face it: This is changing very quickly and science is making progress and sometimes we even make mistakes and correct them,” Abrams said. “There’s nothing wrong with that or learning how to do something better. The double-masking is a good example of that.”

Linda Aldoory, a public health communications researcher at the University of Maryland, said there may be no swaying people who have already lost faith in the government to change their mask behavior, which is why other messengers should be enlisted.

“If we could get every famous influencer and celebrity to wear new masks and wear double masks … that might actually be a great way to start a new social norm to getting the kind of masks they want worn,” Aldoory said.

Danny Ryan, a 27-year-old who works in communications in D.C., said he was swayed to switch to two cloth masks in part after he saw Biden and Vice President Harris doubling up in recent weeks. He also reconsidered the protection of a single mask after seeing his breath while waiting outside for a coronavirus test, although experts say that is not a sign of a malfunctioning mask.

“It just stuck in my head — they are wearing two masks, protecting them underneath and maybe more above,” said Ryan, who now keeps extra masks by his door. “To be perfectly honest, I just feel safer doing it with updates in the news about the new variants.”

 

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