Ellis, Donald G. 1947-

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ELLIS, Donald G. 1947-

PERSONAL: Born 1947. Education: Earned Ph.D., 1976.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—HJG E215, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, CT 06117-1599.

CAREER: Educator and author. University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, professor of communications and director of Arts & Sciences Humanities Center. Scholar-in-residence, New York University.

AWARDS, HONORS: James E. and Frances W. Bent Award, University of Hartford, 1999; Asch fellow, 2004; Fulbright fellow, 2004-05.

WRITINGS:

(With others) Stylistic Analysis of Newspaper Portrayals of Hispanic Americans in Six Western U.S. Communities, Dept. of Communication, Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), 1981.

(Editor with William A. Donohue) Contemporary Issues in Language and Discourse Processes, Erlbaum Associates (Hillsdale, NJ), 1986.

(With B. Aubrey Fisher) Small-Group Decision-Making: Communication and the Group Process, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1990, 4th edition, 1994.

From Language to Communication, Erlbaum Associates (Mahwah, NJ), 1992, 2nd edition, 1999.

Crafting Society: Ethnicity, Class, and CommunicationTheory, Erlbaum Associates (Mahwah, NJ), 1999.

SIDELIGHTS: Communications expert Donald G. Ellis edited Contemporary Issues in Language and Discourse Processes with William A. Donohue. Designed as a book for readers interested in conversation or discourse analysis, the work contains contributions from communications professionals that address three issues: the relationship between human knowledge and discourse, research methodology, and interaction strategies and goals. Betsy K. Barnes, reviewing the work for Modern Language Journal, noted that the "editors are to be commended for their success in creating a well-focused volume in which chapters are closely interrelated while also presenting varied perspectives."

In Crafting Society: Ethnicity, Class, and Communication Theory, Ellis discusses the cultural consequences of modern communication, such as the Internet, on class and ethnicity. He also explores the micro and macro complexities of communication theory. Journal of Communication contributor John J. Pauly noted, "Ellis sets himself an ambitious task in his book Crafting Society. He wants to close the distance between apparently divergent modes of communication theorizing." Ellis defines ethnicity as a group of people whose members share a common interest; those in such a group are aware of who is and who is not part of the group. Class, according to Ellis, involves more objective political and social stratifications. R. Davis commented in Choice that "Ellis makes the point that status, class, and ethnicity are all influenced by media and are defined by perceived understandings of language and communication." J. Donald Ragsdale's review in Southern Communication Journal noted, "Calling social class 'America's dirty little secret,' Ellis demonstrates how communication serves both as the means for acquiring class membership and the way class distinctions may be observed." Ragsdale also called the book "a challenging read, and one that many will find provocative, but in the final analysis it may leave one with a tantalizing sense of what might have been."