91传媒 faculty member鈥檚 research on homelessness wins national book award
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥91传媒 communication faculty member Melanie E. Loehwing is the winner of the 2019 National Communication Association Diamond Anniversary Book Award for her publication on homelessness and the relationship between public policy and ideas and practices of democracy.
An associate professor in the Department of Communication, Loehwing鈥檚 2018 book, 鈥淗omeless Advocacy and the Rhetorical Construction of the Civic Home,鈥 was published in 2018 as part of Penn State University Press鈥檚 Rhetoric and Democratic Deliberation series.
Loehwing will receive a plaque and monetary award, provided by the Life Member Fund, at the 105th annual NCA convention in Baltimore, Maryland, this November. Founded in 1914, the NCA is a scholarly society designed to investigate 鈥渁ll forms, modes, media and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific and aesthetic inquiry.鈥
Presented annually, the NCA鈥檚 book award recognizes the most outstanding scholarly book published during the previous calendar year. Winning publications are selected based on new insights and understandings regarding communication and provide information valuable for research, teaching and application.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more important than ever to think critically about the language we use to talk about issues of housing access and being 鈥榓t home鈥 in the United States,鈥 Loehwing said. 鈥淥ur rhetorical choices reflect the implicit attitudes that shape our public judgment about who belongs in a community, what we value and what kind of shared future we want to pursue.鈥
Loehwing鈥檚 award-winning work illuminates the situation of people 鈥渓iving on the margins of society.鈥澛 She delves into homelessness, revealing how culture and civic discourse shape ideas of the 鈥渉oused鈥 and 鈥渦nhoused,鈥 and the struggles of 鈥渘egotiating an unequal, exclusive and often uncaring society.鈥
鈥淩eceiving this award is such an honor for me because the list of past recipients includes such a distinguished collection of communication scholars鈥攆olks who have shaped the way I think about my field and conduct my research,鈥 Loehwing said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredible honor for my book to be included on this list.鈥
Terry Likes, professor and head of the Department of Communication, said Loehwing is fast developing a national reputation for her research in communication studies.
鈥淗er work exemplifies her commitment to excellence by offering a critical analysis of the rhetoric about homeless communities and the variety of efforts to end homelessness,鈥 Likes said.
Loehwing has been a faculty member at 91传媒 for six years. She earned her Ph.D. in 2011, her masters in 2005, and her bachelors in 2004, all from Indiana University. She also is a research fellow for 91传媒鈥檚 Social Science Research Center. For more information about her collaborative research at the SSRC, visit civiclife.ssrc.msstate.edu.
91传媒鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments.聽Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of Communication may be found at聽 or .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.