Dr. Chitra Akkoor

Courses Taught: Introduction to Communication Studies, Intercultural Communication, Internship, Communication Theory, Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods,

Education: Ph.D., Communication Studies, University of Iowa, 2011; M.A., Communication Studies, Western Michigan University, 2004; B.A., English Literature, University of Madras, 1982

Grants and Awards: Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation fellowship to study in Brazil, 2015. Faculty Development Grant for research in India, 2015

Research: Cross-cultural adaptation, diaspora, identity, and communication of immigrants from South Asia in Europe and United States.

Publications: Akkoor, C. (2014). "Are you my real uncle?": Recreating family in the diaspora. In L. Baxter (Ed.), Remaking "Family" Communicatively, Peter Lang.

Khandelwal, M. R. & Akkoor, C. (2014). Dance-On!: Inter-collegiate Indian Dance Competitions as a New Cultural Form. Cultural Dynamics, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Akkoor, C. (2011). Ways of Speaking in the Diaspora: Afghan Hindus in Germany. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

Baxter, L. A., & Akkoor, C. (2011). Topic expansiveness and family communication patterns. Journal of Family Communication.

Baxter, L. A., & Akkoor, C. (2008). Aesthetic love and romantic love in close relationships: A case study in East Indian arranged marriages. In R. C. Arnett & K. G. Roberts (Eds.), Communication ethics: Between cosmopolitanism and provinciality. Peter Lang.

Selected Conference Presentations: PURE: Facilitating student-Faculty collaboration at KSC. Poster presentation at the annual convention of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) conference in Quebec, Canada, October 2014.

Recreating Community: Afghan Hindus in Germany. Paper presented at the Eight Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Conference in Prague, Czech Republic, July, 2013.

Constructing family: Afghan Hindu refugees in Germany. Paper presented at the NCA annual conference in Orlando, FL, Nov, 2012.

Exploring (in)visible international adoptions among Asian Indian immigrants in the U.S.A. Roundtable at NCA annual conference in New Orleans, November, 2011.

Contesting religion, contesting culture in the diaspora: A case study of Asian Indian Hindus in the U.S.A. Paper presented at the NCA Summer Conference on Intercultural Dialogue in Istanbul, Turkey, July, 2009.