Mary Jane Collier, Ph.D.
Ph.D., University of Southern California, 1982  Office: Room 214, 505-277-2156	Professor  Communication

Research:
My current (although always evolving) areas of research specialization are the following: negotiation of intersecting cultural identifications (including national, ethnic, gender and class-based) in communicative discourses; the role of culture and communication in conflict and "conflict transformation" with critical attention to dialogue and community building; and the negotiation of intercultural relationships and alliances in projects related to social change and social justice. At present I approach these issues from integrating critical and interpretive theoretical perspectives to inquiry.

I am interested in the following broad research problematics in local, national, and international settings:

• How are multiple, intersecting cultural identifications negotiated by group members with different status positioning in various types of recognized conflicts?
• How are intercultural relationships and intercultural alliances negotiated and how do they function to enable and/or constrain projects of social change and social justice?
• What are forms through which academic researchers may collaborate with community practitioners to co-construct material conditions, policies, norms and communicative practices that reflect local and global social justice?

Current projects:
I am working with a team of faculty from the University of Denver on a U.S. State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs Grant project. The project is designed in partnership with the University of West Indies in Trinidad/Tobago for capacity building, M.A. curriculum development, joint research, and training of mediation professionals. I am coordinating a research team assessing Trinidad community members' views of conflict events, cultural identity issues, and preferences for third party and mediation practices.

I am continuing my work on intercultural alliances. I have completed a critical/interpretive study of discourses of participants in an intergroup dialogue program with Middle Eastern young women. Additionally I am analyzing discourses from two Northern Ireland intercommunal dialogue programs to probe how cultural identifications and intercommunal relationships are negotiated in group meetings. I am working with a research team to conduct in-depth interviews with intercultural allies to understand cultural identity and relationship negotiation.

Finally, I am collaborating with a Kenyan colleague on a series of future studies in which we will utilize participant action, community based research to understand the role of contextual features, cultural identities positioning, and relationship negotiation in communities and groups oriented toward social change.

Sample Publications:

• Thompson, J. & Collier, M.J. (in press.) Contingent intersecting identifications among selected U.S. interracial couples: Integrating interpretive and critical views. Communication Quarterly.

• Collier, M.J. (in press.) Cultural positioning, dialogic reflexivity, and

• transformative/third spaces. WSCA 2006 Presidential Keynote Address delivered in Palm Springs, CA: February, 2006. Western Journal of Communication.

• Collier, M.J. (2005). Theorizing cultural identifications: Critical updates and continuing evolution. In W.B. Gudykunst (Ed.) Theorizing about Intercultural Communication, (pp. 235-256). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Collier, M.J. (2005). Context, privilege, and contingent cultural identifications in South African group interview discourses. Western Journal of Communication, 69, 295-318.

• Collier, M.J. (2003). Negotiating Intercultural Alliance Relationships: Toward Transformation.   In M.J. Collier (Ed.) Intercultural Alliances: Critical Transformation (pp 1-16) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

• Collier, M.J., Hegde, R. S., Lee, W., Nakayama, T.K., & Yep, G.A. (2002). Dialogue on the edges: Ferment in communication and culture.   In M.J. Collier (Ed.) Transforming Communication About Culture: Critical New Directions. (p. 219-280). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

• Collier, M. J. (2001). Reconstructing Cultural Diversity in Global Relationships: Negotiating the Borderlands. In G. M. Chen & W. Starosta (Eds.) Diversity, identity and global society. (pp. 215-236). New York: P. Lang Publishers

• Collier, M.J. & Bornman, E. (1999). Intercultural friendships in South Africa:   Norms for managing difference . International Journal of Intercultural Relations . 23, 133-156.

Recent Awards:
Feminist Scholar Award. (2006). Organization for Research on Women and Communication. Presented for: Myers, M. & Collier, M.J. (2005) Cultural ascriptions displayed by restraining order court representatives: Implicating patriarchy and cultural dominance. Women's Studies in Communication, 28, 258-289.