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Department of Communication Studies

Communication, Collaboration, Community

DOB Photo

Dawn O. Braithwaite, Ph.D.


Willa Cather Professor and Professor of
Communication Studies
Director of Graduate Studies

424 Oldfather Hall
(402) 472-2239
dbraithwaite1@unl.edu

Education

Ph. D. @ University of Minnesota (1988)
M. A. @ California State University, Long Beach (1980)
B. A. @ California State University, Fullerton (1978)
A. A. @ Golden West College, Huntington Beach, California (1977)

Research Specialties

  • Communication in personal and family relationships
  • Communication in stepfamilies and chosen (fictive) families
  • Communication rituals
  • Dialectical approaches
  • Communication of people who are disabled

Current Projects

  • Stepchildren's communication and perceptions stepfamily formation
  • Communication of stepchildren in stepfamilies
  • Communication with voluntary (fictive) kin

Projects/manuscripts in process:

  • Braithwaite, D. O., Bach B. W., Baxter, L. A., Willer, E., Hammonds, J., Nunziata, A., Wolff, B. Communication and chosen/fictive kin families.

Manuscripts Under Review

  • Braithwaite, D. O., Bach B. W., Baxter, L. A., Hammonds, J., Nunziata, A., Willer, E., Wolf, B. Constructing family: A typology of voluntary kin (2008). Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.

  • Baxter, L. A., Braithwaite, D. O. & Bach, B. W. (2008) Communication challenges of voluntary kin relationships. Paper submitted to Southern Journal of Communication.

  • Harrigan, M. M., & Braithwaite, D. O. (2008). Communicating validity: An exploration of parents’ discourse in families formed through visible adoption. Journal of Applied Communication Research

Recent Activities

Seiler Photo
  • First Vice President, National Communication Association (NCA); President in 2010
  • Distinguished Service Award, Western States Communication Association (2007)
  • Bernard J. Brommel Award for Outstanding Scholarship/Service in Family Communication,
    National Communication Association (2006)
  • Member, National Communication Association Executive Committee (2005-2011)

 


Dr. Braithwaite receiving
Brommel Award at NCA
2006 (with Dr. Bill Seiler)

Representative Publications

  • Braithwaite, D. O., Bach B. W., Baxter, L. A., Hammonds, J., Nunziata, A., Willer, E., Wolf, B. (in press). Constructing family: A typology of voluntary kin. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
  • Baxter, L. A., Braithwaite, D. O., Kellas, J., LeClair-Underberg, C., Lamb-Normand , E. Routsong, T., Thatcher, M. (in press). Empty ritual: Young-adult stepchildren’s perceptions of the remarriage ceremony. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
  • Durham, W. T., & Braithwaite, D. O. (2009). Communication privacy management within the family planning trajectories of voluntarily child-free couples. Journal of Family Communication.
  • Schrodt, P., Soliz, J., & Braithwaite, D. O (2008). A social relations model of everyday talk and relational satisfaction in stepfamilies. Communication Monographs, 75, 190-217.
  • Braithwaite, D. O., Toller, P., Daas, K., Durham, W. & Jones, A. (2008). Centered, but not caught in the middle: Stepchildren’s perceptions of contradictions of communication of co-parents. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 36, 33-55.

Books

  • Baxter, L. A., & Braithwaite, D. O. (2008). Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. *Chinese translation in progress.
  • Braithwaite, D. O., & Baxter, L. A. (Eds.) (2006). Engaging theories in family communication: Multiple perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Braithwaite, D. O. & Wood, J. T. (Eds). (2000) Case studies in interpersonal communication: Processes and problems. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
  • Braithwaite, D. O. & Thompson, T. L. (Eds). (2000) Handbook of communication and people with disabilities: Research and application. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Chapters in books/Proceedings

  • Baxter, L. A., & Braithwaite, D. O. (2010). Relational dialectics theory, applied. In S. W. Smith & S. R. Wilson (Eds.), New directions in interpersonal communication (pp. 48-66).T housand Oaks CA. Sage.
  • Braithwaite, D. O., Baxter, L. A. & Schrodt, P.  (in process). "Becoming a family": Turning points and interaction patterns in the development of a stepfamily. In D. O. Braithwaite & J. T. Wood (Eds.). Casing interpersonal communication: Case Studies in Personal and Social Relationships. Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt.
  • Braithwaite, D. O., & Schrodt, P. (in press). Dark clouds and silver linings: The (dys)functional ambivalence of stepfamily relationships. In B. H. Spitzberg, & W R. Cupach, W. R. (Eds.) The dark side of close relationships. (2nd ed.) NY: Routledge.
  • Metts, S., Braithwaite, D. O., & Fine, M. (2009). Hurt in post divorce relationships. In A. Vangelisti (Ed), Feeling hurt in close relationships (pp. 336-355). Cambridge University Press.
  • Braithwaite, D. O., & Soliz, J. S. (2009). Commentary: Evolving caregiving roles and relationships.  In Thomas J. Socha & Glen H. Stamp (Eds.), Parents and children communicating with society: Managing relationships outside of home (pp. 343-351). NY: Routledge.

Editorial Boards

  • Journal of Applied Communication Research
  • Journal of Family Communication

Undergraduate Classes Taught at UNL

  • Interpersonal Communication
  • Family Communication
  • Small Group Communication
  • Introduction to Communication

Graduate Classes Taught at UNL