Assistant Professor Advisor for NCA Student Club Lasher 208 740.593.0596 bute@ohio.edu

Education:

• Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Speech Communication with a concentration in  Health Communication and Interpersonal Communication. Graduate Minor: Gender and Women’s Studies
• M. A. Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, Communication Studies with a concentration in Organizational and Professional Communication
• B. S. Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Major: English, Preprofessional. Minor: Communication Studies. Summa Cum Laude, Honors College Undergraduate Fellow

Professional Experience:

Academic Appointments:

• Assistant Professor, School of Communication Studies, Ohio University, 2007-present
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002-2007
• Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004-2006
• Adjunct Communication Instructor, Department of Communication Studies, Ball State University, 2002
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Communication Studies, Ball State University, 1997-1998

Related Professional Experience:

• Training Coordinator, Human Resources, Ontario Systems, 1999-2002
• Training and Communications Coordinator, Human Resources, Farm Bureau, Insurance, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1998-1999

Publications: Publications in peer-reviewed journals, including Health Communication, Human Communication Research, Communication Studies, Communication Teacher, Review of Communication, Qualitative Health Research, and Social Science and Medicine. Also contributed and invited chapters in edited volumes, instructor’s resource manual, and numerous papers presented at communication conventions and conferences

Selected Honors and Awards: Outstanding Faculty Mentor, School of Communication Studies, Ohio University; Top Paper Awards from National Communication Association, International Communication Association and Central States Communication Association, Outstanding Veteran Teaching Assistant in Speech Communication, University of Illinois; Incomplete List of Instructors Rated as Excellent, University of Illinois; Outstanding Article Award in Speech Communication, University of Illinois; Feminist Research Scholarship in Gender and Women’s Studies, University of Illinois; Outstanding Graduate Student, Ball State University

Research Interests: My program of research focuses primarily on issues related to health communication and interpersonal communication. I am particularly interested in how health issues affect communication in personal relationships (e.g., romantic relationships, family relationships, friendships) and believe that studies examining such issues have the potential to broaden conceptualizations of health communication and improve our understanding of interpersonal communication processes (e.g., social support, privacy and disclosure). For example, I have studied how women manage private information as they cope with a fertility problem and how couples communicate social support in health-related contexts. I also have a secondary interest in exploring public discourse related to gender and health, such as public narratives of age-related infertility and media coverage of teen pregnancy.

Teaching Specializations: Health communication, interpersonal communication, gender and communication, family communication