Vinita Agarwal
Education
- Purdue University, PhD, Communication, 2009
- University of Illinois at Chicago, MA, Communication, 2004
Areas of Expertise
- Mental Health Communication
- Communicating Whole System, Indigenous, and Traditional Health Frameworks
- Health Communication and Social Justice
Bio
Vinita Agarwal, Ph.D. (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0040-1715) is Professor of Communication in the Department of Communication. She offers graduate and undergraduate courses in Health Communication, Health Engagement & Advocacy, Health Behavior Change, International Public Relations, Digital Strategy, and Digital Public Relations. Her research examines mental health communication from a whole person and social justice lens and centers global health ethics and indigenous and traditional health frameworks. She is the author and editor of five books on mental health and whole person health communication from a social justice perspective:
Book: Agarwal, V. (2024). Health Communication as Social Justice: A Whole Person Activist Approach. Routledge [Includes Instructor manual and resources for instructors ]
Book: Agarwal, V. (2020). Medical Humanism, Chronic Illness, and the Body in Pain: An Ecology of Wholeness. Bloomsbury Publishing
Book: Agarwal, V. (Ed.).(Forthcoming).Communication and mental health in global contexts:Opportunities for transformation, representation, and social justice (Vol.I). Routledge.
Book: Agarwal, V. (Ed.).(Forthcoming). Mental health disparities, challenges, manifestations: A communicative perspective (Vol. II). Routledge.
Handbook: Agarwal, V., & Beck,C.S. (Eds.). (Forthcoming). The Routledge handbook of health communication and social justice. Routledge.
She is a two-time recipient of NCA's Presidential Citation; a certified Health and Well-Being Coach, Duke Health; an Ayurvedic Wellness Educator; practitioner; Vipassana meditation (Dhamma Giri, Nasik, India); and founder/owner, Whole Person Health Consulting, LLC.