Interpersonal and Family Communication

The Interpersonal and Family Communication area focuses on communication processes in personal relationships, with a particular emphasis on families. Scholars in this area examine how communication drives individual and relational identity work, sense-making, management of divergent identities, and well-being in families. The Interpersonal and Family Communication area features the Institute of Family Diversity and Communication (ifdc.missouri.edu)

The Faculty

The interpersonal faculty are experts in a variety of methodological approaches (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, and experimental) to the study of interpersonal relationships. They are interested in topics such as emotional communication, aggression, stress, intimate violence, conflict, physiology, health, and the discursive construction of identity.

Research Groups

Disaster and Community Crisis Center

Institute for Family Diversity and Communication

Media and Diversity Center

Graduate Program

Graduate Coursework

Health and crisis communication graduate coursework provides of strong foundation of communication research training in interpersonal and family, mediated, and organizational contexts. Additional coursework addresses important health and crisis topics such as stigma, disasters, resilience, and more.