The Center for Culture Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE) proudly presents our affiliate faculty members, esteemed contributors who bring diverse perspectives and expertise to our mission of advancing cultured-centered communication solutions.
SHAUNAK SASTRY
Dr. Shaunak Sastry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Cincinnati. He received his Ph.D. in Health Communication from Purdue University in 2012. His areas of interest are global health communication, critical theory and culture-centered approaches to social change with a particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS campaigns in the global south. Shaunak has published peer-reviewed articles in Health Communication, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, and Studies in Symbolic Interaction in addition to book chapters and close to 20 paper presentations at national and international conferences. He is currently working on three manuscripts from his dissertation, for which he was awarded the Purdue Research Foundation Fellowship (2011-12). For the last two years, Shaunak has also been a project manager and research assistant on the Heart Health Indiana campaign under the aegis of CUAHD (Communities and Universities addressing Health Disparities), a community-based heart-health initiative located in two Indiana counties. At the University of Cincinnati, Shaunak teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in health communication, environmental communication, rhetorical theory. and critical theories of health. Dr. Shaunak Sastry, Ph.D. is Professor of Communication at the University of Cincinnati and Director of The Cincinnati Project, a center for community-engaged research. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of health and culture, globalization and health, and the cultural politics of infectious diseases. His work combines ethnographic and field-based methods with critical analysis of public discourses of health. His work has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals like Human Communication Research, Health Communication, Communication Theory, Journal of Health Communication, Culture, Health & Sexuality, Frontiers in Communication, and Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, in addition to several book chapters and more than 40 paper presentations at national and international conferences. He is a senior editor of the journal Health Communication and sits on the editorial boards of several other academic journals. He is the Chair of the National Communication Association’s (NCA) Research Council and is immediate past-chair of the Asian and Pacific American Caucus at NCA. He is an inductee of the 2024-2045 Provostal Fellow Program.
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ICCHA BASNYAT
Dr. Iccha Basnyat is a visiting fellow in the Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore. She has an MPH from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Ph.D. in Health Communication from Purdue University. Iccha’s research examines the cultural context of health, structural limitations to health, health inequalities, and health experiences at the margins. Her work is rooted in culturally-centered, community-based participatory research and grassroots projects of social change. Iccha teaches and conducts research in international health communication, and critical cultural health communication. She has published her culture-centered work in book chapters as well as in journals such as Health Communication, Health Education & Behavior, Nursing Inquiry, and Asian Journal of Communication.
JEFFERY C. PETERSON
Jeff Peterson received his Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication from the University of New Mexico in 2006. While at UNM, he received a Post-Doctoral Minority Research Fellowship jointly administered by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Associated Schools of Public Health, and the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Prevention Research Centers. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University where he teaches classes in Intercultural Communication, Global Processes in Intercultural Contexts, and Qualitative Research Methods. Dr. Peterson’s work falls within the intersection of Intercultural Communication and Health Communication. His research interests focus on understanding the processes by which knowledge is created and used for the benefit of vulnerable and underserved populations. He has investigated the creation, utilization, and dissemination of both science-based research and “habit-based” public health practice while distinguishing between research created for vulnerable communities, with, and by these communities. He has worked with racial and ethnic minorities (e.g., Hispanic farm workers, American Indian populations) and other groups (such as the formerly homeless) whose needs are not met by traditional social service programs or who feel they cannot comfortably or safely access and use these standard resources. Peterson’s most recent work will appear in a forthcoming chapter on Enhancing Research Utilization in Public Health Research Methods published by Sage.