Communication Studies alumna Maisy Julius and Chair and Professor of Communication Studies J. Dean Farmer published their research paper “There’s nobody else here, right? Concertive control in rural health” as the lead article in the latest issue of the Utah Journal of Communication.
The research investigated how rural communities present distinct healthcare disparities, including a higher risk for comorbidities, lower socioeconomic status, and a higher hesitancy towards medical care, compared to their urban counterparts. The paper proposed an alternative approach to studying rural healthcare through the lens of communication and concertive control, where communities function as self-managed teams that create more restrictive surveillance structures than traditional management systems.
Julius graduated from Campbell in May with a Bachelor of Science in Health Communication and a Master of Science in Public Health, through the 4+1 accelerated degree program. She is currently a PhD student and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information. Farmer has been a professor in the Department of Communication Studies since 2002 and chair since 2006. In addition to this project, he has been published in the Southern Communication Journal, The Ohio Communication Journal and The Carolinas Communication Annual, among others.