John H. POWERS
(BA Milligan Coll, MA, PhD Denver)

Current Courses

• Past Courses
  - COMM7010 - Foundations of Communication Study
  - ACS3630 - Persuasion and Social Influence
  - ACS2620 - Public Communication
  - ORGC1240 - Public Speaking
  - ACS3620 - Conflict and Negotiation
  - COMM1160 - Introduction to Communication
  - COMM2310 - Communication Theory
  

Education

• 1977 Ph.D., Speech Communication, University of Denver
• 1974 MA, Speech Communication, University of Denver
• 1969 BA, English and Philosophy, Milligan College, Milligan, Tennessee

Academic Positions

• Current
  • Professor, Communication Studies Department Hong Kong Baptist University
• 1993-2005 
  • Associate Professor, Communication Studies, HKBU
• 1994-1995
  • Acting Department Head, Communication Studies
• 1988
  • Visiting Associate Professor. MARA Institute of Technology, Shah Alam, Malaysia, fall semester
• 1987-1989
  • Assistant Department Head. Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts, TAMU
• 1986-1993
  • Associate Professor. Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts, TAMU
• 1977-1985
  • Assistant Professor. Department of English, Texas A&M University
• 1970-1973
  • English Teacher. Rockford Public Schools, Rockford, Illinois
• 1969-1970
  • English Teacher. Orrville Public Schools, Orrville, Ohio

Publications and Creative Works

• Scholarly Book in Progress
  
  • Toward a New Paradigm for the Human Sciences: A User’s to Susanne Langer’s Philosophy of Mind. Revised draft expected December 30, 2009.
    
    
• Edited Scholarly Book
  • 2008
    • The Social Construction of SARS: Studies of a Health Communication Crisis. Amsteedam: John Benjamins (with X. Xiao).
  • 1999
    • Civic Discourse, Civil Society and Chinese Communities. Stamford, CT: Ablex (with A. R. Kluver), pp. xii + 277 pages, index.
      [Recipient of the National Communication Association’s Outstanding Book Award 2000 in the International and Intercultural Communication Division]
      
      
• Peer Reviewed Textbook
  • 1994 
    • Public Speaking: The Lively Art, 3rd ed. New York: HarperCollins, pp. xxiii +444 pages, index.
  • 1987 
    • Public Speaking: The Lively Art, 1st ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. xvii + 385 pages; index.
      
      
• Articles and Book Chapters
  • 2008 “Introduction” in “Hong Kong’s Multiple Constructions of SARS.” In J. Powers & X. Xiao (Eds.), The Social Construction of SARS: Studies of a Health Communication Crisis. [with Gwendolyn Gong] (pp. 17-31).
    
    
• 2006 
  • “Susanne Langer’s Philosophy of Symbols and Mind: Some Implications for Media Ecologists.” In C. M. K. Lum (Ed.), Perspectives on Culture, Technology and Communication: The Media Ecology Tradition (pp. 303-334). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. [The book in which this chapter appeared received the Lewis Mumford Award for Outstanding Scholarship of the Media Ecology Association, 2006-2007; the book chapter has been translate into Cinese (2007) and Korean (2008)]
• 2003 
• “Chinese Communication Theory and Practice: A Tier-Based Perspective” [translation into Chinese]. In Chen, G. M. (Ed.). Theory and Principles of Chinese Communication. Taipei: WuNan.
• 2002
  • “Chinese Communication Theory and Practice: A Tier-Based Perspective.” In W. Jia, X. Lu & D. R. Heisey, Chinese Communication Studies: Reflections and New Directions (pp. 37-64). Westport, CT: Ablex.
• 2002 
  • “Dueling Media: Symbolic Conflict in China’s Falun Gong Suppression Campaign.” In G. M. Chen & R. Ma, Chinese Conflict Management and Resolution (pp. 259-274). Westport, CT: Ablex. [with Meg Y. M. Lee]
• 1999
  • “Introduction: Civic Discourse and Civil Society in Chinese Communities.” In Civic Discourse, Civil Society and Chinese Communities. Edited by A. R. Kluver and J. H. Powers (pp. 1-7). Stamford, CT: Ablex Press. [with A. R. Kluver].
• 1999 
  • “Journalistic Memoirs of China: The Discourse of Foreign Reporters.” Chapter 2 in Civic Discourse, Civil Society and Chinese Communities. Edited by A. R. Kluver and J. H. Powers (pp. 23-37). Stamford, CT: Ablex Press.
• 1999
  • “Civic Discourse with the International Community: China’s Whitepapers on Human Rights.” Chapter 17 in Civic Discourse, Civil Society and Chinese Communities. Edited by A. R. Kluver and J. H. Powers (pp. 237-250). Stamford, CT: Ablex Press.
• 1997
  • “Conflict Genres and Management Strategies during China’s ‘Ten Years of Turmoil’.” Intercultural Communication Studies, 7 (1), 121-140.
• 1997
  • “Image Restoration Rhetoric: The Case of Vitasoy International.” In David H. Smith (Ed.), Working Papers on Health Communication and China, pp. 236-249. Hong Kong: LEWI. [with G. Gong]
• 1995
  • “On the Intellectual Structure of the Human Communication Discipline.” Communication Education, 44, 191-222.
    [Nominated for Best Article Award, National Communication Association]
• 1994
  • “East Asian Voice and the Expression of Cultural Ethos.” In Voices on Voice: Perspectives, Definitions, Inquiry.  Ed. Kathleen Blake Yancey. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 202-225. [with G. Gong].
• 1982
  • “An ‘Act’ Based Theory of Communication: First Principles.” Journal of Applied Communication Research, 10, 9-20.
• 1981
  • “Conversation Analysis and Susanne Langer’s ‘Act’ Concept: A New Approach to Describing the Natural ‘Units’ of Conversation.” Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, 4, 17-29.
• 1980
  • “Argumentation as a Communication Process.” In J. Rhodes & S. Newell (Eds.), Proceedings of the Summer Conference on Argumentation (pp. 26-35). Falls Church, VA: Speech Communication Association.
• 1978
  • “Implications of Susanne Langer’s Concept of the Spoken Symbol for Human Communication Theory.” North Carolina Journal of Speech and Drama, 12, 3-18.
• 1978
  • “A Course in Intrapersonal Communication.” Communication Education, 27, 169-172. [with A. Goldberg]
    
    
• Reprinted Article
  • 1979
    • “A Course in Intrapersonal Communication.” In Alan Goldman (Ed.), Unveiling the Self: Frontiers in Human Communication (pp. 150-152). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. [with A. Goldberg]
      
      
• Book Reviews
  • 2004
    • Duncan McCargo’s Media and Politics in Pacific Asia. Asian Journal of Communication, 14, 227-229.
  • 1984
    • Susanne K. Langer’s Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling, volume 3, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 70, 317-319.
  • 1980
    • Susanne K. Langer’s Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling, volumes 1 and 2. Communication Education, 29,  391-393.
      
      
• Research Papers Presented while at HKBU
  • 2006 
    • “Mississippi Chinese World War II Veterans’ Narratives: Research and Revelation (Part 2).” Presented at the Fifth Biennial Conference of The Society for Multi-Ethnic Studies: Europe and the Americas (MESEA), Pamplona, Spain, May 17-21.
  • 2005
    • “‘America On Line:’ A Preliminary Investigation of the Influence of Culture on Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC).” Popular Culture Association Conference, Electronic Culture and Communications Forum, San Diego, CA. March 23-26. [with Roger Pace]
  • 2004
    • “Communication Dimensions of Hong Kong’s SARS Crisis.” National Communication Association. Chicago. November 11-14.
  • 2003
    • “Mapping the Personal and Mass Communication Boundary: A Tier-Based Perspective.” International Communication Association, San Diego, CA, May. [Accepted for presentation but not presented due to travel restrictions during Hong Kong’s SARS epidemic]
  • 2001
    • “Chinese Responses to America’s Chinese Exclusion Laws, 1882-1943.” 7th Annual Conference on US Presidential Rhetoric, Bush School of Government, Texas A&M University, College Station, March 1-4.
  • 2000
    • “Engaging Spiritual Communication: A Tier-Based Perspective” National Communication Association. Seattle. November 6-9.
  • 2000 
    • “Identity Issues and the Future of Hong Kong.” National Communication Association. Seattle. November 6-9.
  • 2000
    • Rhetorical Uses of Media in China’s Anti-Falun Gong Campaign.” National Communication Association. Seattle. November 6-9. [with M. Lee]
  • 2000
    • “Popular Sentiment and Political Engagement: China in US Eyes.” National Communication Association. Seattle. November 6-9. [with A. R. Kluver]
  • 1999
    • “Civic Discourse, Civil Society, and Chinese Communities: Societal Communication in the Third Millennium.” National Communication Association. Chicago. November 4-7, 1999. [with A. R. Kluver]
  • 1999 
    • “Accidental Parody: China’s Response to the US State Department’s Annual Human Rights Report 1999.” 4th Rochester Institute of Technology Academic Conference: Human Rights and Responsibilities: Communication Strategies among Nations and Peoples. Rochester, New York. July 8-10.
  • 1997  
    • “Preaching to the Congregation: The South China Morning Post’s Front Page Coverage of the Pre-handover Period (June 1997).” 3rd Annual Conference of the David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies: East-West Communication—Challenges for the New Century, Hong Kong, November 17-19.
  • 1997 
    • “Women’s Narratives of the Cultural Revolution.” Feminism and Rhetoric(s) Conference: From Boundaries to Borderlands. Portland, Oregon, USA, August 28-30.
  • 1997 
    • “Hong Kong Students’ Response to Post-1997 Human Rights Questions: An Analysis of Computer Mediated Discourse.” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention. Chicago, Illinois, USA. July 30-August 2.
  • 1997
    • “The Symbolic Presentation of ‘Teachers’ in Hong Kong’s Daily Newspapers.” World Communication Association Annual Conference, San Jose, Costa Rica, July 27-31.
  • 1997
    • “Telling Mr. Tung’s Story: Analyzing the News Discourse about the HKSAR’S First Chief Executive’s Pre-Handover Actions.” Conference on The Hong Kong Transition to Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (SARPRC), Hong Kong, July 7-9.
  • 1997  
    • “Features of Primary Orality Exhibited during China’s Cultural Revolution.” The 6th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology. Ottawa, Canada, May 16-20.
  • 1997 
    • “‘Cross-Cultural’ Aspects of Conflict Resolution during China’s ‘Ten Years of Turmoil’.” The 5th Annual International Conference on Conflict Resolution. St. Petersburg, Russia. May 9-14.
  • 1997
    • “The Rhetorical Functions of Slogans during China’s Cultural Revolution.” Southern States Communication Association Annual Convention. Savannah, Georgia, USA, April 2-6.
  • 1997
    • “Image Restoration Strategies in China’s WWW Whitepaper on Human Rights.” 6th International Conference on Cross Cultural Communication. Tempe, Arizona, USA, March 26-30.
  • 1996
    • “Image Restoration Rhetoric: The Case of Vitasoy International.” Beijing Conference on Communication and Culture: China and the World Entering the 21st Century. Peking University, Beijing, China, August 13-16. [with Gwendolyn Gong]
  • 1994
    • “Toward an Adequate Semiotic Theory for Human Communication Theory.” ICA Convention, Sydney, Australia, July 11-15.

Research and Teaching Grants

• 2005-06
  • Sabbatical Leave, HKBU
• 2002-05
  • “Developing Whole Person Education through Community-Based Instruction,” UGC Teaching Development Grant TDSG/02-03/05, HK$ 2,225,000.
• 1996-97
  • “The Symbolic Construction of China in Hong Kong’s Daily Newspaper Press,” Faculty Research Grant FRG/96-97/II-01, HK$124,000.
• 1989-90
  • Faculty Development Leave (sabbatical), TAMU
• 1984
  • TAMU College of Liberal Arts Research Support Grant, Summer, US$ 2,400.

Subjects Taught

• Argumentation
• Argumentation and Composition
• Communication History and Technology
• Communication Theory
• Conflict and Negotiation (HKBU)
• Foundations of Communication Inquiry (post-graduate)
• Group Communication and Discussion
• Interpersonal Communication
• Introduction to Communication
• Language and Communication
• Persuasion and Social Influence
• Principles of Speech Communication
• Public Speaking
• Public Communication
• Speech Communication in the Middle and Secondary Schools
• Research Methods for the Humanities

Honors and Awards

• 2003
  • Listed in Who’s Who in the World 21st Edition to current edition
• 2001
• Listed in Dictionary of International Biography, 29th Edition
• Listed in Who's Who in Finance and Industry, 32nd Edition
• 2000
  • Recipient of the National Communication Association's Outstanding Book Award in the International and Intercultural Communication Division
  • Listed in Who's Who in the World, Millennium Edition
• 1996
  • Nominated for Best Article Award, National Communication Association

Professional Organizations

• Speech Communication Association
• International Communication Association
• Association for Chinese Communication Studies:
  • Vice President, 2002;
  • President, 2003;
  • Immediate Past President and Convention Planner, 2004
• Media Ecology Association

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