My creative work is not just a contribution - It is a gift!
Education
Ph.D., (In Progress), Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media, North Carolina State University
M.A., Communication Studies, The University of North Carolina, Greensboro
BSc., Speech Communication, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (Summa cum laude)
Click to view and download the document detailing my educational background, qualifications, research and teaching experience, public service, and evaluations.
RESEARCH
Meaningful Work!
As an early-career communication scholar, I aim to do meaningful and valuable research. I enjoy taking on projects that are theoretically and practically rich. I also value the ethical application of theories and methods and ensure that my research has general applicability for individuals, organizations, and institutions – while also solving problems and helping communities thrive.
TEACHING
Heart Work!
I love embracing every opportunity to impact knowledge-seekers positively. My philosophy is to never stop learning because life never stops teaching. To me, teaching - like learning - is an active process. My role as an instructor, in any learning environment, is to facilitate a process in meaningful ways that challenge learners (and myself) to see beyond our immediate worldview and embrace a world…
PRESENTATION
Team Work!
I enjoy speaking whether it’s presenting research at (inter)national conferences or sharing insights with diverse audiences. My aim for presenting unique ideas is solely to enable people to learn. My mission is not to transmit a piece of information that can be found on the internet but to transform learners. Kindly review my travel preferences to book me for speaking events or interviews.
Scholarly Accomplishments
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Wesley, D (in press). The Existing and Evolving Aspects of Mobilities in the Global South: A Comparative Analysis of Individuals Affected by COVID-19 in India and East Africa. Mobilities.
Wesley, D., & Jameson, J. (in press). Communication Approaches to Community Peacebuilding. In A.S. Samoilenko, & S. Simmons (Eds.), Wiley Handbook on Social and Political Conflict. Wiley Press.
Smutherman, M., & Wesley, D (in press). Digitized: The Visual Rhetoric of Black Feminist Storytellers on Instagram. In K.S. Haydel, & D. Stamps (Eds.), At the Intersection of Black Identities & Mass Media: Black Identities and Media. LSU Press.
Wesley, D., Smutherman, M., & Pandya, M. (in press). (Re)imagining Communication in a Digital World. In G. Hummel, & A. Hall (Eds.), Perspectives on Communication. Kendal Hunt.
Wesley, D. (in press). Are Terrorism Survivors Better Portrayed? An Answer from the Visual Representation of Boko Haram Survivors in Inter(national) News Media. Western Journal of Communication.
Wesley, D. (2021). A Critical-Rhetorical Analysis of Michelle Obama’s Messages on the Abduction of the Nigerian Chibok Girls. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 13(1), 13 – 26. Click Here to Access Article!
Wesley, D. (2021). Empowerment through silence: A critical discourse analysis of Boko Haram Survivor Narratives. International Gender Research, 4(1), 333–339. doi:10.34190/IGR.21.055 Click Here to Access Article!
Schwartzman, R., & Wesley, D. (2020). Feminizing resilience: Transcending toughness in testimonies of Jewish Holocaust survivors. International Gender Research, 3(1), 228–234. Click Here to Access Article!
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Book Chapter titled (Re)imagining Communication in a Digital World in Book titled Perspectives on Communication (Release date: Fall 2023).
Book Chapter titled Digitized: The Visual Rhetoric of Black Feminist Storytellers on Instagram in Book titled At the Intersection of Black Identities & Mass Media: Black Identities and Media. (Release date: Fall 2023).
Book Chapter titled Communication Approaches to Community Peacebuilding in Book titled Wiley Handbook on Social and Political Conflict (Release date: Spring 2024).
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Community Engagement and Partnership Panel with White Rock Baptist Church Community Members. Presenter at the Black Research Symposium organized by the African American Cultural Center. North Carolina State University. (March 23-25, 2023).
Amplifying Voices of Black Communities: The Power of Storytelling. We Will Tell Our Own Story: Changing the African narrative through Digital Engagement! The Afro-Diasporic Worldbuilding and a Sustainable Futurity. Presenter at the Black Research Symposium organized by the African American Cultural Center. North Carolina State University. (March 23-25, 2023).
Honoring PLACE and Creating Space for Mentorship and Community Building in the International and Intercultural Communication Division. Presenter at the 108th Annual National Communication Association (NCA) Conference. New Orleans, Louisiana. (November 17–20, 2022).
Womentoring/Womxntoring: Networking and Making Effective Use of Academic Friendships. Presenter at the 108th Annual National Communication Association (NCA) Conference. New Orleans, Louisiana. (November 17–20, 2022).
What Does That Mean? Nonverbal Communication in the Classroom. Presenter at the 108th Annual National Communication Association (NCA) Conference. New Orleans, Louisiana. (November 17–20, 2022).
Visual Representation of Boko Haram Survivors in Inter(national) News Media. Paper to be presented at the 108th Annual National Communication Association (NCA) Conference. New Orleans, Louisiana. (November 17–20, 2022).
The Virtual Martin Luther King (vMLK) Project: Embodiment, Affect, Recovery and Equity. Workshop project to be co-facilitated and presented (with team members) at the 107th Meeting of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Renaissance Convention Center. Montgomery, AL. (September 29–October 1st, 2022).
The Virtual Martin Luther King (vMLK) Project: Transferability and Inter-Institution Experiences. Project presented at the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Digital Extension. Hunt Library, NCSU (September 9, 2022).
Are Terrorism Survivors Better Portrayed? An Answer from the Visual Representation of Boko Haram Survivors in Inter(national) News Media. Paper presented at the International Association for Media and Communication Research. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. (July 11–15, 2022).
The Existing and Evolving Aspects of Mobilities in the Global South: A Comparative Analysis of Individuals Affected by COVID-19 in India and East Africa. Project presented and featured at the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) 2022. Online Edition. (June 6–10, 2022).
Framing Terrorism Survivors: Visual Representation of Boko Haram Survivors in Inter(national) News Media. Paper presented at the International Conference on Gender Research. The University of Aveiro, Portugal. (April 28–29, 2022).
The Decolonial Archive: Towards a Pluriversal Diversality. Presentation at the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) Symposium. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. (April 28–29, 2022). 24 – 26, 2022).
International Students and COVID-19: A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of International Students’ Services Messages on North Carolina Universities’ Web Pages. Paper presented at the Carolina Rhetoric Conference. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. (February 25–26, 2022).
Empowerment Through Silence: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Boko Haram Survivor Narratives. Paper presented at the 107th Annual National Communication Association (NCA) Conference. Convention Central Seattle, Washington. (November 18–22, 2021).
Empowerment and Silencing of Boko Haram Survivor Narratives. Paper presented at the International Conference on Gender Research. The University of Aveiro, Portugal. (June 21–22, 2021).
A Critical-Rhetorical Analysis of Michelle Obama’s Messages on the Abduction of the Nigerian Chibok Girls. Paper presented at the 106th Annual National Communication Association Conference, Virtual Convention. (November 19–22, 2020).
Feminizing resilience: Transcending toughness in testimonies of Jewish Holocaust survivors. Paper presented at the International Conference on Gender Research. The University of Reading, U.K. (April 2–3, 2020).
Michelle Obama Embodies the Role of an African Feminist during the Abduction of the Nigerian Chibok Girls. Paper presented at the Graduate Research and Creativity Expo, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (April 1, 2020).
Finding Expression in Contested Spaces: Talking about Race. Moderated a panel at the Free Speech Conference, Department of Communication Studies. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (October 24-25, 2019).
Sustaining Student Learning by Embracing Diversity and Inclusion in the Basic Course. Presentation at the Carolinas Communication Association (CCA) Conference. Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (September 27-28, 2019).
The Future of Graduate Education Coming and Going. Presentation at the Graduate Education and Internationalization for the Global Engagement Summer Institute (GESI), The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (May 16, 2019).
Thomas Undergraduate Research and Creativity Expo. Graduate Judge for the Social Sciences and Humanities. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (April 4, 2019).
Moving Beyond Our Boundaries: Supporting Persuasive Speech Organization in the Classroom. Presentation at the National Association of Communication Centers (NACC) Conference. Organized by the Speaking Center, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (March 29-30, 2019).
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Graduate Panelist at the University Teaching & Learning Commons (UTLC). The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. (October 26, 2018).
Discourse Markers: The Um and You Know Within Your Statement. Presentation at the Illinois Language and Linguistic Society (ILLS9) Graduate Conference. The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. (April 1, 2017).
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Co-Speaker at the 2023 Virtual Martin Luther King’s Interfaith Celebration Service titled Do Justice–Love Kindness. Cary Dream Festival in Christ the King Lutheran Church. Cary, North Carolina. (January 15, 2023)
Keynote Speaker at the 2021 International Women’s Conference. The Women of Virtue Restoration, Burlington. (August 14, 2021).
Graduate Speaker at the Department of Communication Studies Graduation Ceremony. The University of North Carolina, Greensboro. (May 8, 2020).
The Artistry of Local Conversation in a Global World. Presentation at the DAWG/TED Talks (Da Vinci Days). Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. (April 3, 2017).
Undergraduate Speaker at the Department of Communication Studies Graduation Ceremony. Southern Illinois University Carbondale. (December 13, 2017).
The Demographic World of Immigrants. Presentation at the Speaker’s Forum, Department of Communication Studies. Southern Illinois University Carbondale. (April 26, 2016).
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Compassionate Communication, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale [SPCM 464]
Introduction to Communication Studies, The University of North Carolina - Greensboro [CST 101]
Fundamentals of Oral Communication, The University of North Carolina - Greensboro [CST 111]
Introduction to Public Speaking, North Carolina State University [COM 110]
International and Cross-Cultural Communication, North Carolina State University [COM 392]
Communication and Conflict Management, North Carolina State University [COM 442] - Soon to be taught!
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Non-Violent Communication (NVC) Syllabus Creation Project (2023)
Existing & Evolving Aspects of Mobility in the Global South (2022)
Dispute System Design Framework for Non-profit Organizations (2022)
Resilience and Free Speech Community Engagement Project (2019)
Carbondale Main Street Initiatives (2018)
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Toward Comprehensive Exams and Dissertation Purposes!
This Project is a Comparative Analysis of Individuals Affected by Covid-19 in India and East Africa. It Explores the Existing & Evolving Aspects of Mobility in the Global South!
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This Project is a Comparative Analysis of Individuals Affected by Covid-19 in India and East Africa. It Explores the Existing & Evolving Aspects of Mobility in the Global South! -
A comprehensive Dispute System Design was created for The DEW Foundation to recognize, understand, and evaluate an effective means of transforming conflicts among its Board of Directors.
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A comprehensive Dispute System Design was created for The DEW Foundation to recognize, understand, and evaluate an effective means of transforming conflicts among its Board of Directors. -
Awards & Honors
Presentations
Exclusive Interview illuminating the path toward constructive and transformative communication engagements in the digital landscape and beyond on the TMN platform.
Snippets from the upcoming premiere entailing valuable conversation on conflict transformation and youth empowerment in digital spaces on TMN Talk Show!
A Reflective and Call to Action Speech in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Day 2023.
Co-presentation at 2022 Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI)
Presentation at 2022 International Conference on Gender Research (ICGR).
Presentation at 2020 National Communication Association (NCA) Convention.
Presentation at 2022 Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM) Symposium
