11/4/07 - Communication Graduate Student Receives Best Paper Award

Greg Paul, a graduate student in Texas A&M University’s Department of Communication will receive an award from a division of the National Communication Association at its annual conference Nov. 15 -17.

The Peace and Conflict Communication Division will award Paul the John “Sam” Keltner Memorial Top Student Paper Award for his paper, Framing Accounts: Understanding the Account Episode as Negotiated Interpretation.

The John “Sam” Keltner Inspirational Award was developed in 2005 by the Peace and Conflict division to honor the life and achievements of Keltner, one of its founding members, as a scholar, practitioner and mentor. The award is given to the graduate student who submits the most outstanding competitive paper to the Peace and Conflict division.

Paul’s paper examined confrontations in the workplace and how different approaches to conflict can impact how people respond.

“The paper looks at whether or not how we confront people in the workplace makes a difference in how they respond,” Paul said. “Often, people are told to be proactive in a conflict and talk with the person who’s harmed you in some way. “My research asked people in nonprofit organizations to respond to a note from a coworker discussing a conflict going on between them. I found that people respond differently based on how the person confronting them defines the conflict (as a work problem or a relationship problem) and whom that person blames for it.”

Paul received his B.A. in speech communication and M.A. in communication from Texas A&M in 2003 and 2006. His primary research interest is in organizational conflict, particularly forgiveness, apology and dispute resolution, as well as in communication in nonprofit organizations.

His article Why saying ‘sorry’ is the hardest thing to do was published in the spring 2007 newsletter for the International Association of Conflict Management. He has also published a review of the recently-released Sage Handbook of Conflict Communication.

In 2007, Paul received the Association of Former Students Distinguished Research Award for a Master’s Level student. He was also recognized as a Diversity Fellow by Texas A&M in 2005, as a Maryland Fellow by the University of Maryland in 2003, and with the Best Undergraduate Rhetoric Paper by the Texas Speech Communication Association in 2002.

Contact: Erin Wood
College Relations Intern
erinwood@libarts.tamu.edu
979.862.4879