Darlene K. Drummond
Associate Professor
Appointments
Associate Professor of Speech
Area of Expertise
Health Communication,
Intercultural Communication,
Public Speaking,
Health Equity Communication,
Arts-Based Research Methodologies,
Qualitative Methods
Biography
I am a Communication Scientist. I analyze the content and structure of messages within intercultural and health contexts to advance our understanding of identity and biases in our daily interactions with one another. My methods are primarily qualitative including content analysis of one-on-one interviews and focus group data. Ethnographic, phenomenological, feminist, critical, and arts-based epistemologies ground my work. In the classroom, I challenge students to take risks and closely analyze their own communication behaviors to understand themselves and others.
Education
B.A. Denison University
M.A. Eastern New Mexico University
PhD The Ohio State University
Taught Courses
Publications
Kaur-Gill, S., Drummond, D. K., Zhang, J., Butcher, R., Eggly, S., Schifferdecker, K., Brooks, G.A., Murray, G.F., Kapadia, N.S., Hanson, L.C., & Barnato, A. E. (2025). "I didn't go into medicine just to be on the phone": Emotional expression as sacrosanct during serious illness patient-physician advanced cancer care communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Communication, 40(10), 2036-2048.
Drummond, D. K., Kaur-Gill, S., Zhang, J., Eggly, S., & Barnato, A. E. (2025). Power and racial differences in the communication experiences of Black and White patients living with advanced cancer and their care partners: An application of co-cultural theory. Communication Monographs, 92(2), 333-357.
Drummond, D. K., Kaur-Gill, S., Murray, G. F., Schifferdecker, K. E., Butcher, R., Perry, A. N., Brooks, G. A., Kapadia, N. S., & Barnato, A. E. (2023). Problematic integration: Racial discordance in end-of-life decision making. Health Communication, 38(12), 2730-2741.
Drummond, D. K. (2018). The decision: A creative autoethnographic account with poetry. Health Communication, 33(4), 507-509.
Drummond, D. K., & Orbe, M. P. (2010). Cultural contracts: Negotiating a ubiquitous U.S. dominant worldview on race and ethnicity. Communication Studies, 61(4), 373-390.
Drummond, D. K., & Orbe, M. P. (2009). "Who are you trying to be?" Identity gaps within intraracial encounters. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 10(1), 81-87.
Works in Progress
Kaur-Gill, S., Drummond, D.K., & Ahmed, R. (accepted). A social justice approach to health communication research: Women's health and health communication. In I. Basnyat, C. Mooney, & Thompson (Eds.), Handbook of Women and Health Communication. Wiley.
Drummond, D. K., Kaur-Gill, S., Barnato, A. & Gramling, R., (under review ). Conversational repair in end-of-life palliative care consultations with black cancer patients. Journal of Applied Communication Research.
Kaur-Gill, S., Drummond, D. K., Zhang, J., Wasp, G.T., & Barnato, A.E. (under review). Backstage-frontstage communication loops: An observational insight on care team communication with black cancer patients. Health Communication.
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