Dr. Vinita Agarwal

CV, Office Hours, and Contact Information, Bio

CV   (CV and some content last updated 2017).

Dr. Vinita Agarwal (Ph.D., 2009, Brian Lamb School of Communication, Media, Technology, and Society, Purdue University, USA) is an Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Arts, Salisbury University, Maryland USA.

Office Hours Fall 2018: M, 9:30AM–2:30PM, by appointment via email.

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Research Statement

Dr. Agarwal's research seeks to understand how provider-patient communication in therapeutic and integrative medicine relationships can better address patient needs to further the goals of patient-centered care. Dr. Agarwal employs both qualitative and quantitative methods in examining decision-making in health care contexts in complementary and alternative medicine in particular and pain management, preventive medicine, and women's health more generally. Dr. Agarwal's earlier research has also focused on relationship management with a special interest in trust and resilience. (Research & Publications sample)

Selected Publications: 

• Agarwal, V. (in press). Reconceptualizing pain through patient-centered care in the complementary and alternative medicine therapeutic relationship. Journal of Advanced Nursing. doi:1111/jan.13734 {PubMed}
• Agarwal, V. (in press). Healing in and through the body: Complementary and alternative medicine providers’ embodiment of care. Health Communication. doi:1080/10410236.2018.1489201 {PubMed} {online here}
• Agarwal, V. (2018). Complementary and alternative medicine provider knowledge of holistic health. Frontiers in Health Communication, 3, 15. doi:3389/fcomm.2018.00015 {online here} {PubMed}
• Agarwal, V. (2018). Taking care, bringing life: A poststructuralist feminist analysis of maternal discourses of mothers and dai’s in India. Health Communication, 33, 423–432. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1278492 {online here} {PubMed}
• Agarwal, V. (2017). Breaking boundaries: Complementary and alternative medicine practitioner communicative framing of preventive care. Qualitative Health Research, 27, 2019–2029. doi:1177/1049732317723891{online here} {PubMed}
• Agarwal, V. (2014). A/H1N1 Vaccine Intentions in College Students: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Journal of American College Health, 62, 416-424. doi:10.1080/07448481.2014.917650 {PubMed}
• Agarwal, V. (2013). Investigating the construct validity of organizational trust. Journal of Communication Management, 17, 24-39. doi:10.1108/13632541311300133
• Agarwal, V. (2011). Investigating the contribution of benefits and barriers on mammography intentions of middle class urban Indian women: An exploratory study. Communication Research Reports, 28, 1-9. doi:11080/08824096.2011.586254
• Agarwal, V. (2016). Mainstreaming disaster-relief service-learning in communication departments: Integrating pedagogy, praxis, and engagement. The Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 35, 25–42.  {online here}
• Agarwal, V., & Buzzanell, P.M. (2015). Communicative re-construction of resilience labor: Identity/identification in disaster-relief workers. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 43(4), 408-428. doi:10.1080/00909882.2015.1083602

Research Team: 

Project Title: Therapeutic Relationships in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Funded by the BRE grant )

Spring 2018 onward

Research Team members: 

• Austin Dabbs (Chemistry)
• Jessica Nieves (Nursing)
• Kennedi Lamar (Communication)
• Martina Maya-Callen (Conflict Resolution)

If you have an interest in understanding patient and provider communication, are motivated to participate in the research process (team meetings, data gathering, writing, conference presentations), please contact Dr. Agarwal with a brief statement of your interest, goals, and experience. 

Book Chapters

Recent book chapters have appeared in the following edited collections: Strategic communication, Vol. III. Discursive and dialogic organizations and the stakeholder view: Social constructionism and functional perspectives (Sage), Strategic urban communication, health communication and mass media: An integrated approach to policy and practice, and South Asian technospaces.

Images from the maternal health study (funded by Faculty Research Mini-Grant, 2011):

Data-gathering in computer lab for tanning behaviors in undergraduate females with my two research assistants, Devon Clark and Savannah Isner (study funded by Faculty Research Mini-Grant, 2014):

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Teaching Statement

Professor Agarwal teaches courses in strategic communication with a specific interest in health communication, technology, and the digital realm. 

Pedagogy integrating civic engagement in the curriculum: at the Civic Engagement across the Curriculum (CEAC) page here

Fall 2018 Courses:

• CMAT 394: Health Communication, W, 5:30pm–8:15pm, TETC 151
• CMAT 445: Digital Public Relations (Course website: Link) T/TR, 11:00am–12:15pm, TETC 279. CEAC course (link)
• CMAT 248: Introduction to Public Relations. Fall 2018: T/Th, 9:30am–10:45am, 213G TETC

Other Courses Taught: 

• CMAT 465: Communication and Technology (Course website: Link)
• CMAT 344: Writing for the Professions (Course website: Link)
• CMAT 447: International Public Relations (Course website: Link)
• CMAT 490: Health and Wellness Communication 

Prof. Agarwal's courses embrace a thoughtful and intensive engagement with the theoretical and applied dimensions of the content to inform action and decision-making in organizational, interpersonal, and societal contexts. Courses integrate dialogic and blended-learning principles to immerse students in the subject matter through the course of the semester. For more information on any of the courses, please contact Dr. V. 

Workshop certificates from SU's Sloan-C Online Learning Consortium: 

mobile learning apps in education, 

multimodal learning, 

quality in online teaching, and 

assessment techniques in social media 

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Engagement

Dr. Agarwal currently serves as the faculty co-advisor to our communication honors society, Lambda Pi Eta, as member of the Fulton Sustainability Committee, the General Education Freshman Year Experience workgroup, and as co-chair of the Medical Humanities Faculty Learning Committee. Among her other engagement activities, she is a member of the TLC, NCA, third vice chair-elect of the Feminist and Women's Studies division (NCA), review editor at Frontiers in Communication, and a past member of the SUSRC (Salisbury University Student Research Conference 2011–2016) organizing board. 

Teaching and Learning Council member, National Communication Association, Washington D.C., January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019. [URL NCA association leadership]

Third Vice Chair-Elect, Feminist and Women's Studies Division, NCA

Review Editor, Frontiers, A Communication Journal (Health Communication) [Editorial board URL] 

Founding director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, Salisbury University, Md. (2016–2017; URL:OURCA).

• See photographs of previous trips led by Dr. Agarwal in 2016 at UNC, Asheville and 2017 at U of Memphis! 
• Council of Undergraduate Research Institute (CUR) participant, Ottawa, Canada, 2016 photographs

Faculty Co-Advisor, Lambda Pi Eta, Communication Honors Society

• Photographs of the second LPE Communication Honors Conference organized in Spring 2018. 

Communication Arts Faculty Website: Link

Ad Hoc Reviewer:

• The American Journal of Public Health,
• Health Communication,
• Journal of Applied Communication Research,
• Health Education Research,
• Communication Studies,
• Management Communication Quarterly,
• International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction,
• Health Education and Behavior, and
• Communication Quarterly, among others.

Ayurvedic Wellness Educator (currently in progress on Level 2, Ayurveda in Integrative Medicine certification)

Ayurvedic Wellness Educator Level 1 certificate

Honors Faculty Fellow (Inaugural Cohort, 2017–2018): Developed course Medicine and Culture. 

and

PACE (Public Affairs and Civic Engagement) Institute Faculty Fellow (2017–2018). PACE web page: Link

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Assorted

When not working, Dr. Agarwal is an outdoor nature-lover who loves the simple therapeutic joys of trail running with her hubby and big goofy chunky lab in all seasons. She can be found hanging out with family around the kitchen cooking new recipes, around nature trails hiking, browsing technology websites for advances and gadgets, embracing her big-city fix in DC or NYC, or just goofing around with her naughty and needy chocoloate lab, Scout. Following the traditional Ayurvedic system of medicine, she believes in integrating sustainable Ayurvedic wellness practices (meditation, yoga, essential oils, nutrition, breathing/silence, vedic mantras) and living a simple, thoughtful, and holistic life from the inside out.  ICA Japan and Alaska travels and family album 2015 Link | New York 2017 | Las Vegas, NCA 2015| Boston, ECA 2017 |  Pemberton | 

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