Dr. Stephenson Beck
Assistant Professor
Email Dr.
Beck
Office: Minard 321L
Phone: (701) 231-7705
I joined the NDSU faculty in 2008 after completing my Ph.D.
at the University of Kansas. I attended Brigham Young
University for my B.A. in Broadcast Journalism, before
turning my interests to group and organizational
communication while completing my M.A. at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
My research interests focus on social interaction, communication strategy, macrocognition, and relational communication in groups. My dissertation investigated how group members in three natural meeting contexts (breast cancer support group, non profit internet service provider, and a city commission) interacted to complete different meeting tasks, and how the interaction differed across contexts. I primarily work with natural contexts, analyzing how individuals strategically adapt messages to accomplish individual and group goals, and how this influences group process and message perception.
My teaching interests range from group and organizational communication classes (i.e., conflict, decision making, strategy) to methods classes. This semester I am teaching an undergraduate course (COMM 315) and graduate seminar (COMM 790) in group communication. In Spring 2010, I will be teaching an undergraduate seminar on conflict communication (COMM 391) and Research Methods in Communication (COMM 700).