Ithaca College

 Assistant Professor Christopher House is the recipient of the National 
Communication Association's African American Communication and Culture 
Division 2012 Outstanding Dissertation Award.  Dr. House successfully defended his University of Pittsburgh dissertation, titled "Rhetorics of the Black Church: Sex, Religion, and 
HIV/AIDS Across the African Diaspora," last year as a predoctoral diversity fellow in the Department of Communication Studies (H&S).   He will be recognized for his outstanding work at the annual meeting of NCA in Orlando next month.

In selecting the dissertation, the awards committee noted that Dr. House's dissertation "...made meaningful contributions to communication scholarship regarding African Americans and/or the African Diaspora in insightful ways."  One of the reviewers added that "the author's use of multiple methods to engage a topic that is crucial but rarely studied in communication is impressive. His engaging exploration of how personal involvement or personal vulnerability with disease actually causes these theologians to rethink and reframe what they espouse is compelling."

Dr. House has already shared his insights with IC students through a seminar taught last year, and he continues to develop courses that combine the study of communication with religion, health, and culture.