Melanie Booth-Butterfield
Dr. Booth-Butterfield’s professional emphasis is on using one-to-one communication to address real-life interpersonal and social problems. This emphasis involves both application of existing communication concepts to new issues, as well as developing new approaches, and examining difficult communication processes. She is open to empirical research across various interpersonal areas; e.g., relational communication, humor enactments, and how personality affects our interactions.
Dr. Booth-Butterfield has emphasized research in the areas of processes and outcomes involved with humor enactments (e.g., Humor Orientation), and a variety of interpersonal/relational communication issues. In 2006, Dr. Booth-Butterfield was named as the first McConnell Chair in Speech Communication. She has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and books, has been the Editor of Communication Education Communication Quarterly, and Communication Research Reports. She is also a past President of the Eastern Communication Association, and both an ECA Teaching and Research Fellow.