tl;dr : A quick and dirty bio Executive summary for those in a hurry
I'm an associate professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where I'm currently teaching an online course in Social Media, open to all majors including ASUOnline students. I've also taught various courses in our Public Relations curriculum.
My research tends to take a big-picture view of communication: I'm interested in questions of identity and reputation--personal, professional, organizational--as well as trying to understand the emergence and spread of issues and crises. My overall worldview is strongly colored by complexity theory, and I favor a mixed-methods approach to research.
Complexity theory is the study of emergent order and self-organization, which I find especially fascinating as a lens for exploring aspects of public relations such as issues, crises, identity & reputation, and community. I also use this lens to look at communication systems as a whole, especially with regard to newer and social media. More details about my research interests can be found here...
I spent the bulk of my adult life, and pre-academic career, in Italy (Bologna, to be specific), where I developed a taste for excellent food, stylish clothes and shoes, and fast motorcycles. I've also always been a big fan of the arts, and love living in central Phoenix where I can walk or take the light rail to almost anywhere I need to go.
I say this every year, but once again I'm going to be making a concerted effort to update my blog a bit more regularly. You can also find me on Twitter. The latter is the best way to get in touch with me, but feel free to connect with me however you prefer (even Pinterest!).