Image by Liam Ortiz from Pixbay
In a special Memorial Day episode of the National Communication Association's podcast Communication Matters, I had the privilege of participating in a discussion about NCA's newest division - the Communication and Military Division. Hosted by Dr. Trevor Parry-Giles, NCA's Executive Director, the podcast includes a conversation with two military veterans who have been active in helping create the new NCA division. Dr. Elizabeth Desnoyers-Colas, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Arts at Georgia Southern University, retired at the rank of Major after serving 16 years in the United States Air Force as a public affairs officer including during the first Gulf war. Dr. William Howe, who just completed his PhD in organizational communication at the University Oklahoma and is beginning as an Assistant Professor in the Department of the Communication at University of Kentucky this fall, served as a combat medic in the U.S. Army during the conflict in Iraq.
In the podcast, Dr. Desnoyers-Colas, Howe, and I talk about the new NCA Communication and Military Division's mission. The division promotes research, teaching, and community-engaged work that highlights and critiques messages and discourses within and about the military. Collectively, the division does not take a “for” or “against” stance on the military as an institution; rather, we work to enhance understanding between military and civilian communities, critique policies/practices, and contribute to positive changes concerning military/veteran-related topics.
Among other topics, we talk about why there was a need for the division at this point in time, how the division is helping connect faculty and students from many areas across the communication discipline (e.g., rhetoric, critical/cultural studies, and media as well as family, health, organizational, and intercultural communication), and how communication scholars bring a unique perspective to military- and veteran-connected issues. Dr. Desnoyers-Colas reflects on the role that women play in the military, and Dr. Howe describes what it was like to return to the classroom as a student veteran. I also discuss my own research on how military spouses and parents attempt to encourage service members or veterans to seek behavioral healthcare as needed, including why those conversations are challenging and what advice they would give others about navigating them.
Finally, we talk about the meaning of Memorial Day, especially at a time when our country is social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Howe suggests getting on the site iCasualties.org, which allows users to search fatalities in the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq, and tailoring the search for individuals from your own city or state. He suggests that doing this may help make the sacrifices we celebrate on Memorial Day a bit more personal than otherwise might be the case.
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