Timothy Huffman | Saint Louis University (original) (raw)

What is social justice? Various political, philosophical, and theological accounts offer definiti... more What is social justice? Various political, philosophical, and theological accounts offer definitions. Rather than defining social justice, this project seeks to provide a set of narrative, imaginative tools for visualizing more just societies. By taking a communication framework, it becomes clear how modes of acting/organizing—like advocacy and charity—constitute social justice. Specifically, this paper looks at two allegorical thought experiments, the broken river and the just city, as ways to imagine the social and communicative dimensions of a socially just world.

This performative essay is a redrafting and extension of a critical dialogue following a public p... more This performative essay is a redrafting and extension of a critical dialogue following a public presentation on the nature and
importance of communication studies. The dialogue is framed by using the metaphor of breathing, as it relates to particular
links between human communication and communication activist research.

Social justice connects to trends in organizational communication scholarship in important ways. ... more Social justice connects to trends in organizational communication scholarship in important ways. Some organizational communication traditions engage, explicitly and implicitly, social justice concepts, such as fairness, equity, freedom, structure, and poverty. Drawing on these rich traditions, even more opportunities exist for conducting organizational communication scholarship that promotes justice. This essay articulates how the theory–practice conversation can be forwarded to enable social justice-oriented scholarship. Ultimately, communication scholarship can do more justice if it is understood as contributing to the " communicative imaginary " as opposed to only developing theory. The communicative imaginary is the splendid array of social possibilities that humans use to create and recreate ways of living together and sharing in one another's lives. As explained in this essay, heroism, tragedy, comedy, and beauty are four frames within the communicative imaginary that enable the pursuit of justice. The essay concludes with a reflection on how the social justice concept of " solidarity " can configure scholars' lives in meaningful and just ways.

Community-based Action Research by Timothy Huffman

Scholars of communication who are committed to activism and social justice often do not fit fully... more Scholars of communication who are committed to activism and social justice often do not fit fully into the paradigms of postpositive, interpretive, or critical traditions. Alternately, pragmatism and relational epistemology serve as excellent paradigmatic frameworks. Pragmatism, a tradition of philosophy that focuses on the connection between ideas and action, and relational epistemology, an approach to knowing that highlights the relationships between knowers, both offer valuable tools for scholar-activists. By engaging in communication scholarship that is oriented toward action and situated in relationships, scholar-activists can strive to draw on broad stakeholder experiences to contribute to interdependent human flourishing.

Scholar activists draw on a variety of theoretical, methodological, and practical tools for creat... more Scholar activists draw on a variety of theoretical, methodological, and practical tools for creating and sustaining social justice. We argue that data analysis—in addition to research design, participation, and community engagement—can be leveraged to engage in scholarship for social good. This essay contributes to that effort by offering a set of data analytic heuristic devices for qualitative researchers. These heuristic devices include: community cocktail party, conjecturing claims, Jeopardy research questions, phronetic claims, carrying claims, and tightening claims. We outline each heuristic device’s use, purpose, underlying philosophical commitments, and how it aids analytic thinking that serves the pursuit of justice. Using these devices provides opportunities for making claims that matter and strengthening the impact of qualitative research.

This paper sets the foundation for a new method for addressing social problems called pragmatic f... more This paper sets the foundation for a new method for addressing social problems called pragmatic fieldwork. I developed the method while working with nonprofit organizations that serve homeless youth and young adults. The approach is informed by qualitative research, participatory action research, and the philosophical tradition of pragmatism. In this text, I lay out the methodological framework for pragmatic fieldwork. I also outline the practices associated with performing the method. By including both the conceptual and practical dimensions of the method, I hope pragmatic fieldwork serves as a specific and actionable approach to doing socially transformative scholarship.

Compassion by Timothy Huffman

Western Journal of Communication, 2016

Compassionate communication can fail. Scholars have called for a move away from understanding com... more Compassionate communication can fail. Scholars have called for a move away from understanding compassion as an individual emotional experience and toward a dynamic, interactional view. This study draws on the experience of homeless young adults in nonprofit organizations and their interactions with staff in order to better understand the compassionate dynamics of communication in this setting. I argue that compassion can rupture when staff members use the compassionate processes of recognizing, relating, and reacting, but the young adults interpret the communication as lacking compassion. Usually compassion ruptured because the recipient of well-meaning interaction felt insulted, dehumanized, or delegitimized by the “caring” communication of another.

Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little about communicating compassion to... more Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little
about communicating compassion to people whose suffering is
wrapped in a cloak of anger, threat, resistance, and fear. This
article attends directly to this issue by examining the
conversational particulars of compassion communicated by school
bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff to would-be school shooter Michael
Hill. The case serves as the basis for advancing propositions about
communicating compassion to unwilling recipients and suggests
the importance of careful conversational timing, faceenhancement
strategies, convergence/mirroring techniques, cocreating
hope, physical presence, and vulnerable self-disclosure.
The case extends current conceptualizations of compassion and
provides a vivid picture for enacting compassion when sufferers
are angry, threatening, or resisting help.

Spirituality by Timothy Huffman

This paper argues that communication inquiry can be understood as a spiritual practice. Specifica... more This paper argues that communication inquiry can be understood as a spiritual practice. Specifically, it looks at three paradigms of communication inquiry: classical scientific, interpretive, and critical. It identifies the spiritual traditions that align with each paradigm and shows how understanding each paradigm from a spiritual perspective can improve the practice of inquiry. Understanding communication inquiry as spiritual also helps address the problem of inter-paradigmatic incommensurability. This paper closes by identifying common components of spiritual inquiry across the three paradigms.

Spirituality across Disciplines: Research and Practice:, 2016

In M. de Souza, J. Bone & J. Watson (Eds). Spirituality across disciplines: Research and ... more In M. de Souza, J. Bone & J. Watson (Eds). Spirituality across disciplines: Research and Practice.

Papers by Timothy Huffman

Journal of Applied Communication Research

ABSTRACT Homeless young adults face a complex set of challenges as they navigate life and work. T... more ABSTRACT Homeless young adults face a complex set of challenges as they navigate life and work. This study aims to guide scholarly and activist understandings of homelessness, communication, and employment by exploring homeless young adults’ struggles and tactics regarding work. Specifically, we argue that homeless young adults experience a ‘scaffolded city’ phenomenon, where regulated employment is all but out of reach due to the mutually reinforcing structures undergirding work and home. These built, imagined, and discursive structures manifest as domestic, bureaucratic, social support, and health barriers. We also highlight various tactics used by homeless young adults to navigate life and work despite these barriers, including communicating intentionally, coordinating nonprofit organizational resources, connecting to a higher purpose, maintaining motivation, and seeking entrepreneurial opportunities. We frame these findings to be used as a set of practical tools to design and evaluate homeless young adult employment programs.