The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication has awarded a 2020 Page Center Research Grant to Drs. Ashley English, Jacqueline Lambiase and Julie O’Neil to study organizational listening. The three Strategic Communication faculty members will conduct research to examine the City of Fort Worth’s architecture of listening in its attempt to dialogue and engage with marginalized and diverse stakeholders following the shooting of an innocent black person, Atatiana Jefferson, by a white police officer in October 2019. The incident captured national attention and sparked outrage, and black community members living in Fort Worth mobilized and demanded that city leadership listen and act upon their concerns. This research responds to a recent call for reexamining relationship theory based upon listening.
“One of TCU’s four strategic goals is to strengthen diversity and inclusion. We think that others on campus will welcome learning about research on listening and dialogue with marginalized stakeholders,” Julie O’Neil says.
Drs. English, Lambiase and O’Neil plan to share their completed research with both academic and professional public relations communities, participants of TCU’s Certified Public Communicators Program and students in the Schieffer College.