Angela Putman

Angela Putman received her B.A. and M.A. in Organizational Communication from Western Michigan University. Her Ph.D. is in Intercultural Communication and is from University of New Mexico. Her dissertation is titled Interrupting the Silence: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a Pilot Seminar on Racism, Intersectionality, and White Privilege. For this research project, she developed, designed, and implemented a 3-day seminar that was piloted on a group of college undergraduates. The seminar examined how the students came to understand institutional racism, intersectionality, and white privilege, as well as equipped the students with practical skills for confronting and interrupting white privilege in their daily lives.

Dr. Putman positions herself as a critical intercultural scholar. She uses a variety of qualitative methodologies to critically examine the intersections of multiple identity positions and their relationship with communication in and among intercultural relationships. Specifically, Dr. Putman is interested in whiteness as ideology, the pervasiveness of white privilege, institutional/systemic racism, and critical pedagogy.

Ultimately, Dr. Putman’s research is interconnected to her teaching—each informs the other and shapes her identity as a Scholar Educator. She is passionate about engaging students and encouraging them to become lifelong critical thinkers, contributing to the field of communication studies, promoting and practicing social justice, and the Detroit Lions.

Dr. Putman primarily teaches such courses as Public Speaking, Intercultural Communication, Interpersonal Communication, and Gender Communication. She hopes to also teach a seminar on White Privilege.

Recent Publications and Presentations:

Putman, A. (2015). The Church of Tyler Perry: How Perry Created a Phenomenon. In B. Johnson (Ed.), The Problematic Tyler Perry. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Orbe, M. P., Everett, M. A., & Putman, A. L. (2013). Interracial and interethnic conflict and communication in the United States. In J. Oetzel & S Ting-Toomey (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication: Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice, 2nd Edition.

Putman, A. (2012, November). The Tyler Perry Phenomenon. National Communication Association Convention.

Putman, A. (2009, February 27). Getting to know students, Facebook to Facebook. Community College Times, 21(5), 6.

Putman, A. & Thompson, S. (2006).  Paving the Way: Mexican American First-Generation Community College Students in a Border Community Speak Out. International and Intercultural Communication Annual, 29, 121-142.