CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Leanne Knobloch and Angharad Valdivia, both professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have been elected Fellows of the International Communication Association.
Knobloch is a professor of communication, and Valdivia is a professor of media and cinema studies and in the Institute of Communications Research. They are two of 31 fellows chosen internationally for the 2020 class, announced in a recent newsletter.
ICA Fellows are chosen primarily in recognition of distinguished scholarly contributions to the broad field of communication, and represent only a small percentage of the organization’s membership.
Their election follows that last year of two other Illinois faculty members, John Caughlin and Travis Dixon, both professors of communication.
Knobloch was cited for her research on how people communicate during times of transition within close relationships, with a particular focus on how romantic couples deal with mental health issues and how military families navigate the cycle of deployment and reintegration. Her scholarship has received numerous awards; in 2015, she was named a University Scholar by the U. of I.
She recently completed a research project funded by the U.S. Department of Defense to investigate how military couples can maintain satisfying relationships upon reunion following deployment.
Valdivia was cited for her research on feminist communication studies, Latina and Latino communication studies, and culture and communication. She is the author or editor of numerous books, edited collections and encyclopedias in media studies, most recently “The Gender of Latinidad: Uses and Abuses of Hybridity.” She also was cited by the ICA for chairing its Feminist Scholarship Interest Group and editing its journal Communication Theory. At the U. of I., she served five years as the initial head of the department of media and cinema studies.
Through decades of work, according to the ICA, Valdivia “has opened and cultivated academic spaces where women and women of color faculty from the United States and globally have thrived, contributing to the rigorous and innovative production of knowledge in the field.”
Editor’s notes:
To reach Leanne Knobloch, email knobl@illinois.edu. To reach Angharad Valdivia, email valdivia@illinois.edu.
