KRISTEN ALLEY SWAIN
Assistant Professor
Stauffer-Flint Hall 205A
785-864-7691 (office)
kswain@ku.edu
J-School profile
Community of Science: http://myprofile.cos.com/kswain
Expertise
Kristen Alley Swain’s research focuses on risk perception and media framing of risk, including news coverage of bioterrorism, HIV/AIDS, stem cell research, and sea-level rise. Recent publications have explored framing, scientific explanation, and sourcing in coverage of the anthrax attacks, moral development framing of the environmental justice movement, and international news flow about the Sub-Saharan AIDS epidemic. Her past health communication research explored factors that influence health behavior change in religious settings. Swain has served in leadership roles on two public health grants, including a multi-university message design project. She is currently developing two NSF proposals about public communication about polar research, in collaboration with the Center for the Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets at KU. Swain served as strategic planning consultant for a minority AIDS task force in Florida, directed the Science Journalism Center at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg, and has taught various science/health communication courses at four universities.
Keywords
Science/medical communication, risk perception, crisis communication, ethics.
Education
Ph.D. in Mass Communication (1999). College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida. Dissertation: “Barriers and Inroads to AIDS Discourse in the African American Church: Development of a Strategic Model and Tool for Network Diffusion of HIV Prevention Advice.”
M.A. in Journalism (1992). College of Communication, University of Alabama.
B.A. in Journalism (1988). Department of Journalism, University of Mississippi.
Funding
Co-PI, $326,143 multi-university grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2003): “Targeted Pre-Event Message Development for WMD Threats.” Sub-contract team developed strategies for creating pre-event messages to disseminate to media and the public in the event of a bioterror attack; also designed focus groups of urban Hispanics to evaluate responses to nuclear, biological, and chemical threats.
PI, $18,000 sub-contract, College of Public Health, University of South Florida (2003-2005): “Media Roles in the Anthrax Scare: Messages and Lessons Learned.” Supervised five students in analyzing 841 news articles from newspapers, TV/radio transcripts, and news wires. Also supervised five other students in conducting in-depth interviews with journalists and public health officials.
PI, $2,300 faculty grant from the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute, Texas A&M University (2002): “National Newspaper Coverage of Environmental Justice: Trends and Policy Implications.”
PI, $1,496 faculty grant from Texas A&M University (1998): “Religiosity-Based Barriers and Inroads to AIDS Intervention in African American Churches: A National Survey of Religious Leaders.”
Recipient, $2,550 fellowship from the Texas A&M Faculty Abroad Seminar, International Programs Office (2001). One of five faculty members selected campus wide to establish research ties with colleagues in Mexico.
Selected Publications
Kristen Alley Swain, “Moral Development Framing in Environmental Justice News Coverage.” Chapter in New Agendas in Science Communication, Lawrence Erlbaum/Taylor & Francis (edited by Pat Stout and LeeAnn Kahlor), in press.
Kristen Alley Swain, “Alternative energy” and “U.S. Department of Energy” articles in forthcoming Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Communication (S.H. Priest, ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kristen Alley Swain (Summer 2007). Outrage Factors and Explanations in News Coverage of the Anthrax Attacks. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 84 (2), 335-352.
Kristen Alley Swain (March 2007). Sourcing Patterns in News Coverage of the Anthrax Attacks. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 25 (2), 57-96.
Kristen Alley Swain (2007). “Researching Media Preparedness and Disaster Coverage,” in Are We Ready? (A. Powers & G.B. Freeland, eds.). Community Readiness Communications conference (Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University): p. 1-5. Book and CD distributed to journalists, health and safety experts, public officials, military officers, and communications specialists across the U.S.
Kristen Alley Swain (August 2005). Approaching the Quarter-Century Mark: AIDS Coverage and Research Decline as Infection Spreads. Critical Studies in Media Communication 22 (3), 258-262.
Kristen Alley Swain (Spring 2003). Proximity and Power Factors in Western Coverage of the Sub-Saharan AIDS Crisis. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 80 (1), 145-165.
Stephanie Dube, Kristen Alley Swain, Brian Vastag, Lisa Brown, and Scott McMahan (Spring 1999). U.S. vs. International Newspaper Coverage of Alternative Medicine, Southwest Mass Communication Journal 14 (2), 24-37.
Kim Walsh-Childers, Jean Chance, and Kristen Alley Swain (Spring 1999). Daily Newspaper Coverage of the Organization, Delivery, and Financing of Health Care, 1993. Newspaper Research Journal 20 (2), 2-23.
Kim Walsh-Childers, Deborah Treise, Kristen Alley Swain, and Shian Dai (1997). Finding Health and AIDS Information in the Mass Media: An Exploratory Study among Chinese College Students. AIDS Education & Prevention: An Interdisciplinary Journal 9 (6), 564-584.
Deborah Treise, Kim Walsh-Childers, Shian Dai, and Kristen Alley Swain (Winter 1996). AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs among Chinese College Students: Implications for PSA Development. Health Marketing Quarterly 13 (3), 87-108.
Selected Honors
Top Three Faculty Paper Award for "Uncertainty Framing in News Coverage of a Non-Conventional War Disaster": Communication Theory and Methodology Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), 2007.
First Place Faculty Paper Award for "Public Relations in a Non-Conventional War Disaster: Advice Framing during the Anthrax Attacks": Poster Category, Public Relations Division, AEJMC, 2007.
Finalist, 2007 Sustainability Leadership Faculty Award, University of Kansas. Recognized for involving students in innovative solar energy, energy conservation, and biodiversity communication projects.
Recipient, KU Center for Teaching Excellence Faculty Fellowship, to support innovative teaching practices in science/;medical writing classes, 2006-07.
Participant, KU Center for Teaching Excellence Best Practices Institute seminar to explore student learning in science/medical writing classes, 2006-07.
Fellowship, Capitalism and Culture Faculty Colloquium for "Capitalist and Cultural Factors that Shape News Coverage of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa": KU Hall Center for the Humanities; eight faculty members chosen university wide, 2005.
Overall Third Place for Scholarly Achievement for "U.S. vs. International Coverage of Alternative Medicine: A Content Analysis of Nine Elite Newspapers": Southwest Education Council for Journalism and Mass Communication annual convention, El Paso, Texas, 1998.
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