This is the first book within the field of communication studies to map the terrain of Latina/o performance. Using rhetorical criticism and performance ethnography, the book examines performance from a variety of perspectives: from identity and community in everyday life, to how it intersects with popular culture. Discussions - from Ricky Martin to Chicana feminist pilgrimages to issues of diaspora - contribute to the book's argument that the relationship between rhetorical scholarship and emerging performance work has largely been ignored. Latina/o Communication Studies aims to challenge this split by creating a more complex and less Eurocentric understanding of rhetoric. This rich and informative book contributes to a more nuanced understanding of race and ethnicity and attests to the importance of Latina/o studies in the field of communication.

This book brings together contemporary and exciting research within communication and Latina/o studies. Written in a clear, accessible manner and based on original research drawn from a broad range of paradigms - from textual analysis to reception studies and political economy - Latina/o Communication Studies Today provides an invaluable resource and excellent case studies for those already conducting research and teaching in Latina/o communication studies. The media studied include radio, television, cinema, magazines, and newspapers.

This book presents contemporary Latina/o/x Communication Studies research in theoretical, methodological, and academic contexts. Contributors focus on Latina/o/x experiences in academia, Latina/o/x identity, the role of the Spanish language, and border activism modes of resistance.

Taking up the charge to study discourses of marginalized groups, while simultaneously extending scholarship about Latina/os in the field of Communication, Latina/o Discourse in Vernacular Spaces: Somos de Una Voz? provides the most current work examining the vernacular voices of Latina/os. The editors of this diverse collection structure the book along four topics_Locating Foundations, Citizenship and Belonging, The Politics of Self-Representation, and Trans/National Voces_that are guided by the organizing principle of voz/voces [voice/voces]. Voz/voces resonates not only in intellectual endeavors but also in public arenas in which perceptions of Latina/os' being of one voice circulate. The study of voz/voces proceeds from a variety of sites including cultural myth, social movement, music, testimonios, a website, and autoethnographic performance. By questioning and addressing the politics of voz/voces, the essays collectively underscore the complexity that shapes Latina/o multivocality. Ultimately, the contours of Latina/o vernacular expressions call attention to the ways that these unique communities continue to craft identities that transform social understandings of who Latina/os are, to engage in forms of resistance that alter relations of power, and to challenge self- and dominant representations.

Latina/o/x Communication Studies: Theories, Methods, and Practice spotlights contemporary Latina/o/x Communication Studies research in various theoretical, methodological, and academic contexts. Leandra H. Hernández, Diana I. Bowen, Sara De Los Santos Upton, and Amanda R. Martinez have assembled a collection of case studies that focus on health, media, rhetoric, identity, organizations, the environment, and academia. Contributors expand upon previous Latina/o/x Communication Studies scholarship by examining identity and academic experiences in our current political climate; the role of language, identity, and Latinidades in health and media contexts; and the role of social activism in rhetorical, environmental, organizational, and border studies contexts. Scholars of communication, Latin American Studies, rhetoric, and sociology will find this book particularly useful.

The story of an academic discipline is usually conveyed in grand movements and long spans, but it can also be told through the lives of individual scholars, through the development of specialties, through the creation and change of departments, and through the formation and transformation of organizations. Using twelve histories of micro-dimensions of communication studies, this volume shows how sometimes small decisions, single scholars, individual departments, and marginalized voices can have dramatic roles in the history and future of an academic discipline. As a compilation of micro-histories with macro-lessons this volume stands alone in communication studies. Read as a companion to A Century of Communication Studies, the National Communication Association’s centennial volume, it offers rich detail, missing links, and local narratives that fully flesh out the discipline. In either case, no education in communication studies is complete without an understanding of the themes, challenges, and triumphs embodied by the twelve micro-histories offered in this book. This book was originally published as two special issues of Review of Communication.

Communication research is evolving and changing in a world of online journals, open-access, and new ways of obtaining data and conducting experiments via the Internet. Although there are generic encyclopedias describing basic social science research methodologies in general, until now there has been no comprehensive A-to-Z reference work exploring methods specific to communication and media studies. Our entries, authored by key figures in the field, focus on special considerations when applied specifically to communication research, accompanied by engaging examples from the literature of communication, journalism, and media studies. Entries cover every step of the research process, from the creative development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, selection of best methods (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed) for analyzing research results and publishing research findings, whether in traditional media or via new media outlets. In addition to expected entries covering the basics of theories and methods traditionally used in communication research, other entries discuss important trends influencing the future of that research, including contemporary practical issues students will face in communication professions, the influences of globalization on research, use of new recording technologies in fieldwork, and the challenges and opportunities related to studying online multi-media environments. Email, texting, cellphone video, and blogging are shown not only as topics of research but also as means of collecting and analyzing data. Still other entries delve into considerations of accountability, copyright, confidentiality, data ownership and security, privacy, and other aspects of conducting an ethical research program. Features: 652 signed entries are contained in an authoritative work spanning four volumes available in choice of electronic or print formats. Although organized A-to-Z, front matter includes a Reader’s Guide grouping entries thematically to help students interested in a specific aspect of communication research to more easily locate directly related entries. Back matter includes a Chronology of the development of the field of communication research; a Resource Guide to classic books, journals, and associations; a Glossary introducing the terminology of the field; and a detailed Index. Entries conclude with References/Further Readings and Cross-References to related entries to guide students further in their research journeys. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross-References combine to provide robust search-and-browse in the e-version.