The Junck Colloquium with Brooke Fisher Liu will occur on Thursday, Oct. 13, in the Freedom Forum Conference Center from 4-5 p.m.
Liu — a professor from the University of Maryland Department of Communication — will deliver her keynote: "Not in Kansas anymore: How publics’ active and passive communicative behaviors affect tornado responses."
"Not in Kansas anymore: How publics’ active and passive communicative behaviors affect tornado responses"
With the proliferation of smartphones warnings can arrive in our pockets, and with the flick of a wrist we can “like” or share crisis information. In crises such as tornadoes where publics have minutes to respond once they receive a warning, convenient access to crisis information is critically important. Yet, important questions remain: To what extent are people becoming passive (vs. active) consumers and sharers of crisis information given the proliferation of new technology? What factors predict passive (vs. active) crisis information consumption and sharing? Moreover, if there are varying levels of active vs. passive information consumption and sharing how, if at all, does this affect potential responses to tornadoes (e.g., sheltering in place)?
Answering these questions may be especially important in the context of tornadoes for the Southeast U.S., where the most fatalities occur when controlling for tornado frequency and where tornado prediction accuracy is especially challenging. Therefore, to answer these questions, two theories are combined and extended, the social-mediated crisis communication (SMCC) model and the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS), through ten focus groups and a survey of Southeast U.S. adult residents. Findings lead to a new theory of crisis communication, and provide applied insights for the project’s funder: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA).
The Mary Junck Research Colloquium series was formally established in 2007 to nurture an intellectually vibrant climate with both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary shades, by scheduling scholarly presentations on diverse topics.
The speakers represent various disciplines and units on campus as well as other universities and organizations in the Triangle. The series has been particularly successful in attracting scholars and researchers of national and international renown from within the U.S. and abroad. The series attracts a diverse audience comprising faculty, graduate students and researchers from around the Triangle.
2016-17 Junck Colloquium Series:
For more information, please contact Kriste Patrow at patrowk@live.unc.edu.