Mridula Mascarenhas

Teaching Areas:

Communication Ethics, Dialogue and Deliberation, Rhetorical Criticism

Research Interests:

My scholarship examines social movements and public discourse, particularly related to issues of religion. I am interested in how marginalized populations deploy rhetorical arguments to challenge hegemonic practices. I have studied how Catholic feminists argue for the legitimacy of their positions within the patriarchal institution of the Catholic church; as well as how various Catholic audiences have interpreted Pope Francis's statements on homosexuality. I am interested in pursuing the rhetorical promise of dialogic approaches that attempt to engage social actors across dimensions of difference. A new area of research that I am starting to explore is the intersection of communication ethics and new technologies.

Recent Publications:

Mascarenhas, M. (2017). Prophetic and deliberative responses to the doctrinal voice: A study of the rhetorical engagement between Catholic nuns and Church hierarchy. Journal of Communication and Religion, Winter 2017, 39(4), 36-54.

Mascarenhas, M. (2017). Organizational citizenship behavior. In C. R. Scott & L. L. Lewis (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication (Vols. 1-4). New York: Wiley.

Mascarenhas, M. (2017). Rhetorical artifact. In M. Allen (Ed.), Sage Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Mascarenhas, M. (2014). Uniform to pulp: Performance of transformation, critique, and community-building for veteran soldiers. Western Journal of Communication, 78(1), 78-96.

Mascarenhas, M. (2014). Wearing different listening hats: A classroom activity for demonstrating the effect of listening attitudes. In J. E. Aitken (Ed.), Cases on communication technology for second language acquisition and cultural learning (pp. 18-21). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Mascarenhas, M., Meyers, R.A., & Bonito, J.A. (2010). Matters of life and death: Decision-making in a jury. In L.W. Black (Ed.), Group communication: Cases for analysis, appreciation, and application (pp. 127-134). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.