John G. Oetzel, Ph.D.
Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1995  Office: Room 204, 505-277-1905	Professor and C&J Chair Communication

Research:

My research program centers on understanding and improving problematic interactions between and among people with different cultural backgrounds. The problematic interactions I have examined include conflict in culturally diverse work groups and organizations, employee mistreatment in culturally diverse organizations, instructor immediacy in multicultural classrooms, and mental health service interactions among patients and providers and patients and family members in American Indian communities.

Currently, I am engaged in (or just finished) four projects:

•  I completed a textbook on intercultural communication.
•   I am working on (with Ginny McDermott and Olaf Werder) a baseline survey on attitudes toward people with mental health disorders. This project is funded by the New Mexico Human Services Department and provides information for a stigma reduction campaign they are planning.
•   I am working on (with Courtney Fletcher and Yea Wen Chen at UNM and scholars around the globe) a cross-cultural study of conflict behavior in intimate relationships in 9 nations including Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, Germany, China, Taiwan, Japan, and the U.S.
•   I am working on (with Nina Wallerstein) a project that investigates the use of community-based participatory research methods in various collaborations with underserved communities and the effect on health and social outcomes. This project provides a form of “meta-analysis” of CBPR processes and outcomes. This project has been funded by the Indian Health Service and Native American Research Centers for Health.

Sample Publications:

• Oetzel, J. G. (2009). Layers of Intercultural Communication. New York: Allyn & Bacon.

• Oetzel, J. G., Garcia, A. J., & Ting-Toomey, S. (in press). "An analysis of the relationships among face concerns and facework behaviors in perceived conflict situations: A four-culture investigation." International Journal of Conflict Management.

• Oetzel, J. G., Dhar, S., & Kirschbaum, K. (2007). "Intercultural conflict from a multilevel perspective: Trends, possibilities, and future directions." Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 36,183-204.

• Oetzel, J. G., Duran, B., Jiang, Y., & Lucero, J. (2007). "Social support and social undermining as correlates for alcohol, drug, and mental disorders in American Indian women presenting for primary care at an Indian Health Service hospital." Journal of Health Communication, 12, 187-206.

• Oetzel, J. G., Sanchez, C., DeVargas, F., & Ginossar, T. (2007). "Hispanic women’s preferences for breast health information: Character types and subjective cultural influences for communication preferences." Health Communication, 21, 1-11.

• Zhang, Q., Oetzel, J. G., Gao, X., Wilcox, R., & Takai, J. (2007). "A further test of immediacy-learning models: A cross-cultural investigation." Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 36, 1-13.

• Zhang, Q., Oetzel, J. G., Gao, X., Wilcox, R., & Takai, J. (2007). "Teacher immediacy scales: Testing for validity across cultures." Communication Education, 56,228-248.

• Oetzel, J., Duran, B., Lucero, J., Jiang, Y., Novins, D., Beals, J., Manson, S., & the AI-SUPERPFP team. (2006). "Rural Native Americans’ perspectives of obstacles in the mental health treatment process in three treatment sectors." Psychological Services, 3, 117-128.

• Oetzel, J.G., and Ting-Toomey, S. (Eds.) (2006). The Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication: Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Teaching:

My areas of teaching include Intercultural Communication and Research Methods. I have taught graduate and undergraduate courses in intercultural communication and graduate courses in research methods (quantitative) in the past three years: Intercultural Comm (314), Quantitative Research Methods (607), and Advanced Intercultural Comm (614).

I am also committed to serving students outside the classroom and in another creative ways. Examples of this commitment includes the following: (a) Track advisor for a grant entitled “Languages and internationalization across curriculum: Health and cultural integrity.” The purpose of this project is to develop new curriculum to provide strong international components in health, cultural diversity, and communication. Four faculty members taught via this program in the past two years; (b) I am currently serving as advisor for 4 Ph.D. students and as a committee member for another 4 Ph.D. students; (c) I have published articles or book chapters with 25 current or former students.

Service:

•   Department Service: Chair
•   Recent/Current University Service: (a) search committee for the director for the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Additions (CASAA); (b) search committee for the dean for the College of Arts and Sciences; (c) member of the search committee for College of A & S development officers; and (d) member of the Ad Hoc Budget Committee, College of Arts & Sciences.
•   Current Disciplinary Service: Editorial board for four journals—Communication Education, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, Western Journal of Communication