Ph.D., University of
Washington, 1999
Office: Room 220, 505-277-2166
Associate Professor
Communication
Research:
My research has focused on understanding and describing
how indigenous culture influences peoples’ ways of communicating
and vice versa, and on describing how culturally grounded communicative
practices reflect and create a unique life for groups of people. Ultimately,
I am interested in studying the influence of culture within the activities
and events of everyday life, with particular interest in, but not
limited to, organizational contexts. My research goals include contributing
to: cultural and intercultural communication, language in social interaction,
racialized communication, the much understudied activity of communicative
silence, and ethnographic approaches.
Past projects
My past research includes a book investigating the communication
practices of Mexican construction workers in Veracruz, Mexico, and
the ways they used these practices to create and maintain relational
alignments that in turn were used to create and maintain networks
of workplace cooperation
Current projects
My current work inlcudes a project "Enfoque Mexico" wherein our research team is investigating the political priorities of leaders of Mexican heritage living in the U.S.
I am working in collaboration with graduate students on two treatments of the Nadya Suleman case: (1) The case as "social drama," and (2) an analysis of the case for its "newsworthiness."
Some of my current research involves inquiry into American Indian
silences and their generative aspects. My recent work also involves
combining interpretive and critical approaches to address what I
call “masked silence sequences” or discriminatory silences
as enacted in college classrooms. Another project involves the abstraction
of a definition of “academic success” on behalf of American
Indian college students.
A trip to Denmark during summer 2008 represents my continuing
effort to probe into fresh areas for inquiry. This project embraces
the controversial social phenomenon of Danish women converting to
Islam, particularly as such conversions affect communication in
general and communication in the workplace. This contemporary Danish
debate offers a locus of study for broader understandings about
the discursive power of religious conversions and their impact on
organizational life. This topic further can serve to investigate
women’s power to exercise agency in the construction of their
own cultural and intercultural identities in ways that challenge
traditional feminisms and feminist theories.
Because my research commitments include continuing work with Mexican/Hispanic/Latina(o)/Chicana(o)
ways of communicating, potential new directions consist of inquiry
into the emotional impact of undocumented immigration on Mexican
mothers of young children. This project would help address the complicated
effects of a contemporary social problem that affects the health,
health care, and clinical practices enacted in New Mexican communities.
I am working with Judith White on a study focused on identifying
the communication preferences of New Mexico legislators.
Sample Publications:
Covarrubias, P. (forthcoming). "The Ethnography of Communication."
In Littlejohn, S. and K. Foss (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Communication
Theory, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Covarrubias, P. (forthcoming). "Speech Codes Theory." In Littlejohn,
S. and K. Foss (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Communication
Theory,
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Covarrubias, P., & Windchief, S. (2009). "Silences in Stewardship:
Some American Indian Examples." The Howard Journal of Communications,
20, 3.
Covarrubias, P. (2008). "Masked Silence Sequences: Hearing Discrimination
in the College Classroom." Communication, Culture & Critique,
1, 3, 227-252.
Covarrubias, P. (2007). "(Un)biased in Western theory: Generative
silence in American Indian communication." Communication Monographs,
74, 2, 265-271.
Covarrubias, P., & Turner, M. (Spring 2006). "Cultural Codes
in Communication, a video production." This video produced on DVD,
conceived by Patricia Covarrubias and produced by UNM undergraduate
student Mike Turner, served as promotional and teaching tool at
a communication codes conference at the University of Washington
in May 2006.
Covarrubias, P. (2005). "Homemade talk: Language, identity, and
other Mexican legacies for a son’s intercultural competence."
In Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz (Ed.), From generation to generation:
Maintaining cultural identity over time. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton
Press.
Philipsen, G., Coutu, L. M., & Covarrubias, P. (2005). Speech
Codes Theory: Revision, Restatement, and Response to Criticisms.
In William Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about communication and
culture. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. (order of authorship
beyond Philipsen was selected at random)
Covarrubias, P. (2000). Of endearment and other terms of address:
A Mexican perspective. In M. W. Lustig and J. Koester (Eds.), AmongUS:
Essays on identity, belonging, and intercultural competence.
New York: Longman.
Philipsen, G., Aoki, E., Castor, T., Coutu, L., Covarrubias, P.,
Jabs, L., Kane, M., & Winchatz, M. (1997). Reading Ella Cara
Deloria’s Waterlily for cultured speech. Iowa Journal of Communication,
29, 31-49.
Teaching:
At other universities I have taught cultural communication; organizational
communication; small group communication; language, culture, and society;
public speaking; advanced public speaking; French literature; business
French; and French grammar. At UNM I have taught the following courses
at the undergraduate level: 314, Intercultural Communication; 393,
Metaphors to Live and Die for: Global Perspectives co-sponsored by
the Latin American and Iberian Institute. At the graduate level, I
have taught: 514, Seminar in Intercultural Communication; 518,Language
Behavior (Language, Thought, and Culture); 608, Qualitative Research
Methods; and 614, Advanced Seminar in Intercultural Communication.
My experience with teaching cultural/intercultural communication
transcends teaching: I live it daily at home, work, and play. I am
a native Mexican fluent in Spanish, French, and Italian. I have studied
Japanese and have worked with the Japanese business community. Further,
four years as a television news reporter for KCRA-TV, the NBC affiliate
in Sacramento, Calif., diversifies my knowledge of communication studies
to include mass media. In my personal life, my everyday activities embrace the challenges and pleasures
of raising a young son
to be bilingual and multicultural.
Service:
Recent/Current Department Service: Diversity Committee,
Chair; Merit Committee; Teaching Load Committee; Search Committee
for Intercultural Communication.
Recent/Current University Service: I have served and
continue to serve as Departmental Representative for UNM recruitment
events (e.g., Departmental Representative, UNM Senior Day, Hispano
Student Day, and American Indian Student Day.
Recent/Current Disciplinary Service: I serve on the
editorial boards for two journals—Western Journal of Communication
and Great Plains Quarterly. I also have served as ad-hoc reviewer
for various other journals (e.g., Communication Monograph, Research
on Language and Social Interaction, Text and Performance Quarterly,
and Innovative Higher Education.)
Community Outreach Service: I am member of the Our Lady of Assumption School Advisory Board.
I am currently serving as advisor for one Ph.D. student and as a
committee member for several other graduate students. My service includes
involvement with my young son’s school and other activities
(e.g., Scouts) for the purpose of enhancing the education of our society’s
most important citizens—our children.
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