Vinita Agarwal
Education
- Purdue University, PhD, Communication, Media, and Technology, 2009
- Vipassana International Academy, Other, Vipassana meditation , 2019
- International Academy of Ayurved, Other, Advanced Ayurvedic Diet and Nutrition , 2019
- Maharishi University of Management , Other, Ayurveda for Health Professionals (70 hours), 2019
- Maharishi University of Management , Other, Ayurveda Wellness Educator, 2015
- University of Illinois at Chicago, MA, Communication , 2004
- Mass Communication Research Center, MA, Mass Communication , 1991
Areas of Expertise
- Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Patient-CAM provider communication
- Therapeutic relationships
Bio
Vinita Agarwal (Ph.D., Purdue University, 2009) teaches courses in Health, Digital, and International PR as part of PR and Strategic Communication track faculty in the Department of Communication. She is the author of Medical Humanism, Chronic Illness, and the Body in Pain: An Ecology of Wholeness, Lexington Press. Her scholarly interests lie in health, healing, and wellness communication, our individual and collective wellness, and the therapeutic relationship. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Patient Experience, Journal of Advanced Nursing, Qualitative Health Research, Health Communication, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Frontiers in Health Communication, and the Journal of Association of Communication Administrators, among others. Her students work on both the course content and its application to their own lived contexts and their communities in ways that she hopes equips them to make a difference. She has presented in top paper panels and presented over 50 competitively selected conference papers and is is trained in Vipassana meditation and in Ayurveda (Advanced Ayurvedic Diet and Nutrition & for Health Professionals). In her teaching, she hopes her students gain an actionable understanding of their profession and the knowledge-based competencies required to excel in their careers. In her scholarship, she hopes that her readers may find ways to further conceptualize wholeness, healing, and a motivation to pursue sustainable ways of approaching our individual life goals and human progress.