Member Details

Alexandra (Lexa) Murphy is a professor in the College of Communication. She received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Utah and her Ph.D. from the University of South Florida. Her research centers on analyzing the problems that can occur when dominant, taken-for-granted communication practices are unquestioningly reproduced and institutionalized. In particular, she has a strong interest in organizational and community contexts where lives are on the line. She has explored issues of culture, gender, and power in the communication practices of airline crews and medical staff in hospital emergency rooms. She has also worked extensively on organizational development and communication programs for HIV/AIDS education with several nonprofits based in Nairobi, Kenya where HIV/AIDS is prevalent, but dominant patterns of communication based on gender, cultural, and religious norms, continue to silence the topic. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in communication and community service studies that focus on cultural and political issues within organizations, cultures and communities.