Dr. San Steven Bolkan (COMM) Receives Recognition by the Eastern, National, and International Communication Associations

The College of Liberal Arts congratulates Dr. San Steven Bolkan for receiving recognition by the Eastern, National, and International Communication associations.

In April, the Eastern Communication Association identified Bolkan as having written one of the top three papers submitted in the Instructional Development Division of its regional conference held in Pittsburgh, Pa. The paper’s topic was student-teacher complaints. The Eastern Communication Association is the oldest professional association of Communication Studies scholars, teachers, and students in the United States.

In June, Bolkan will receive recognition for his paper on humor in the classroom at the International Communication Association (ICA) meeting in London. The ICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication with more than 3,500 members in 65 countries.

Finally, in November, the National Communication Association’s 99th annual meeting in Washington D.C. will name Bolkan’s paper on how teachers can respond to classroom complaints as the top paper in the Instructional Development Division. He is a coauthor on this manuscript—the first author, Jennifer Holmgren, is a graduating master’s student at CSULB and the paper was born from her thesis.

Bolkan has been a member of Communication Studies since 2009. He studies how corporations deal with complaints, giving special attention to how different sorts of organizational phenomena can be applied to personal relationships—like those between students and teachers. He received his bachelor’s degree in communication studies from the University of San Diego and his master’s in communication studies from San Diego State. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 2007.

Click here to read Richard Manly’s Inside CSULB titled “Bolkan Hits Honors Trifecta.”

Photo by Victoria Sanchez